LANSING, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer says the state is “in the worst part of this pandemic to date.”
The Governor and the state’s medical director Dr. Joneigh Khaldun spoke Thursday at a press briefing about the state of COVID-19 in Michigan.
” This is the moment medical experts have been warning about and dreading since the beginning of the pandemic,” Gov. Whitmer said.
Both urged that holiday plans should look different this year and urged Michiganders not to gather for Thanksgiving with people outside of their own households. If it must be done, masks, social distancing and frequent handwashing while indoors is strongly recommended.
Their news conference came just hours after Michigan hospital executives spoke Thursday morning to sound the alarm on hospital capacity.
Health executives from Beaumont Health, Henry Ford Health Systems, and Spectrum Health, as well as health care systems in the Upper Peninsula said positivity rates from testing are tripling at some hospitals.
In Michigan, an average of 45,000 diagnostic tests are being done daily. Dr. Khaldun said that’s the fifth largest number of total tests per state in the country.
Overall right now, Michigan is seeing a 10.8% positive rate.
The Upper Peninsula, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, and Saginaw regions all have percent positive rates above 10%.
The Jackson, Detroit and Lansing regions are seeing percent positive rates between 6.3% and 10.9%.
The Traverse City region is seeing a percent positive rate at 8.7%.
Dr. Khaldun said all regions are still seeing an increase in hospitalizations, which can be dangerous because hospitals won’t be able to share staff with other regions as they were in the spring when hospitalizations were concentrated in southeast Michigan.
Dr. Khaldun said 20% of Intensive Care Unit beds across the state are filled with COVID-19 patients right now.
Comments