Health

COVID-19 hospitalizations are spiking again in Michigan, and this time younger people are driving much of that trend, showing that “adults of any age are vulnerable to complications from the disease,” according to data from the Michigan Health and Hospital Association.

The MHA says older adults are still more likely to be hospitalized with COVID. But in this latest spike, more younger people are being hospitalized too, and the percentage increase among older adults is much smaller.

K-12 schools continued to be the largest source of Michigan COVID-19 outbreaks last week, according to state data.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services reported 63 new school outbreaks last week. That’s up from the prior week, when schools surpassed long-term care facilities as the top source of COVID outbreaks in the state. The state also reports 144 ongoing school outbreaks.

Detroit is taking its campaign to vaccinate residents against COVID-19 to more places in the city.

The city is opening up “Community Saturdays” at eight sites, mostly churches. Previously, these Saturday clinics were open only to seniors. Now, they’re also open to any adult Detroiter who has a job that requires in-person work.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan says it’s part of an effort to reach the zip codes hit hardest by the pandemic, and people who don’t have easy access to the TCF Center mass vaccination site.

Starting Tuesday, Michigan’s largest COVID-19 vaccination clinic begins delivering shots into arms.

In the past week, 110,000 people have signed up to get their coronavirus vaccine at Ford Field in Detroit.  

More than 14,000 appointments are scheduled for this week, with another 20,000 appointment invitations going out Monday.

The statewide moratorium on water shutoffs expires at the end of the month, and some groups are concerned that many Michiganders won't be able to catch up on unpaid utilities and prevent more shutoffs in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit) says she plans to introduce legislation in the next few days that would extend the moratorium. She emphasized the need to act quickly, because the Legislature goes on its in-district work period, or "spring break" next week.

K-12 schools are now the number-one source of COVID-19 outbreaks in Michigan, according to state data released this week.

For the week ending March 11, the state identified 162 outbreaks in K-12 schools, including 54 new outbreaks with the prior week. For the first time, school-related outbreaks have surpassed those in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

Ford Field will serve as Michigan’s largest mass COVID-19 vaccination site starting next week.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced Thursday the home of the Detroit Lions is one of 20 federally designated mass vaccination centers across the country. 

Tens of thousands of vaccine doses beyond Michigan’s regular allotment should be available over the next eight weeks.

Elementary and Middle schools in Kent County have been allowed to reduce their distancing requirements from six feet down to three feet.

The Kent County Health Department changed the recommendation in February as a six-week pilot.

The change also affects which students are asked to quarantine after being exposed to a positive case of COVID-19. Under the recommendation in the pilot, only students who were within three feet of the infected person for 15 minutes or more will have to quarantine.

After months of organizers fighting for access, people with disabilities will become eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines starting next Monday.

As more and more Michiganders - and out-of-state students - become eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine, the University of Michigan is planning to have students return to campus for the fall semester, with residence halls filled at nearly 80% in September, and most classes being held in person.

Students and other fans will also be able to attend Michigan athletic events, so long as public health guidance allows.

President Biden is giving the first prime-time address of his presidency to mark one year of the coronavirus pandemic, a day after Congress passed a massive relief package. More than 500,000 people have died from the virus in the U.S.

So far during the pandemic, more than 62% of Michigan's 40,886 inmates have tested positive for COVID-19.

138 prisoners have died of the infection.

It shouldn't have happened, says Tony Gant, President of the Jackson chapter of Nation Outside, an advocacy organization for Michigan inmates.

March 10 marks one year since Michigan’s first confirmed COVID-19 case. We want to know how COVID has changed your life this year. What’s the worst thing the pandemic has brought - and what’s the best thing?

State officials say they've detected the first known case of a new coronavirus variant in Michigan.

The variant is called B.1.351 and it was first discovered in South Africa last fall. The new variant has been identified in a child in Jackson County.

Local health districts in Northern Michigan said Thursday they will expand COVID-19 vaccine eligibility at a faster pace than state guidelines.

Michigan’s Department of Health and Human Services said earlier this week that anyone 50 and older could get vaccinated against the virus starting on Monday, March 22. People in that age group could get vaccinated earlier — March 8 — if they had a pre-existing condition that would make them particularly vulnerable to the virus.