LANSING, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — State health officials are now allowing all frontline workers to receive COVID-19 testing regardless of whether they show symptoms.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services on Monday further loosened testing restrictions so that all essential employees showing up to work in-person are now eligible for testing. The broadened category includes any worker that directly engages with the public like medical responders, grocery store workers, or law enforcement among other occupations.
Due to limited supplies of testing equipment, the state government initially reserved tests for medical employees, high-risk individuals, and those showing more severe symptoms. Testing criteria were opened up last week to allow for state residents showing mild symptoms to be eligible for testing, part of the state’s increased effort to gather more reliable estimates of the total number sick.
Another effort to slow the spread of COVID-19 involves setting up a new program to contract trace those exposed to the virus. MDHHS said in a release this week that it’s organizing more than 2,000 volunteers to identify those who have come into contact with patients, allowing the department to prevent further areas of spread and offer quarantine recommendations for individual members of the public.
“Contact tracing is an essential public health tool and will help determine and limit the spread of COVID-19 in our state,” said Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, chief medical executive and chief deputy for health. “This effort is also giving Michiganders an important way to contribute to crisis response and we appreciate their willingness to step up for their communities, pitching in selflessly for work that will help us all.”
Governor Gretchen Whitmer has repeatedly voiced her concern over the chronic shortage of test kits in the state, saying that the limited capacity to test individuals will hamper Michigan’s long-term strategy of rolling back the virus.
As of Sunday, only 114,000 tests have been administered out of a total state population of nearly 10 million people. In Michigan 30% of all people tested have received positive results for COVID-19, compared to the 18% national average.
The governor has said that any plan to lift the stay-at-home order will require an increase in overall testing and a declining percentage of new cases each day. State data does show that the number of confirmed cases has fallen during the two weeks since April 7th, but Michigan lags behind the testing rates that health experts say will be necessary to detect and curb transmission.
Federal guidelines issued by the White House last Thursday called for states to phase in certain businesses and activities after a 14-day period when either the number of confirmed cases falls or the percentage of people testing positive declines.
Even though testing is not at the level state officials have hoped for, more testing facilities have been opened including easy access drive-thru sites across the state.
Testing facilities can be found at michigan.gov/coronavirus where users can click on the tab “Find a Testing Site Near You” to see locations. The MDHHS hotline for those reporting symptoms will be open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at (800) 535-6136. Kalamazoo County has also activated its COVID-19 hotline at (269) 373-5267.
