Michigan No Longer in Top Five States for COVID-19 Hospitalizations

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Wednesday that data is showing efforts to combat COVID-19 in Michigan are working, although she will likely extend her stay-at-home order beyond April 30. She said she will work with experts to determine when and if the state can relax restrictions to reopen parts of the economy. Whitmer said she will have more to say about those plans on Friday.

Whitmer said hospitalizations for COVID-19 are down from a high point ten days ago, and have declined 15 percent, taking Michigan out of the top five states for positive coronavirus cases. She said Michigan remains in the top ten, however.

Gov. Whitmer also announced 10-day furloughs for nearly 3,000 state employees, who will keep their health insurance and automatically get unemployment. The furloughs are expected to save the state $5 million. A decrease in tax revenues due to the virus have impacted the state budget.

The governor also announced the number of positive COVID-19 cases in Michigan stood at 33,966 as of this Wednesday afternoon. That includes 999 new cases added since Tuesday. There were 113 deaths added to the total on Wednesday, which now stands at 2,813. Of those who’ve tested positive for COVID-19 in Michigan, 3,237 have recovered.

Saginaw County is now reporting a total of 475 cases,  Bay County 93 and Midland County 47. 34 people have died from the virus in Saginaw County, two in Bay County and three in Midland County.

For a complete look at county-by-county data and other information on coronavirus in Michigan, visit the state website:

https://www.michigan.gov/coronavirus/0,9753,7-406-98163_98173—,00.html