Michigan virus cases go from 2 to 549 in a week

Health officials on alert as border closes to all but essential traffic

Within a 24-hour period, the amount of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Michigan has skyrocketed, heightening the concerns of the Windsor-essex County Health Unit.

On Friday afternoon, Michigan health officials announced the state’s total number of novel coronavirus patients has risen to 549.

On Thursday morning, that figure was 110. A week ago, there were two.

“(The situation) is changing. That is why we have to stay on top of it,” Dr. Wajid Ahmed, medical officer of health for the Windsor-essex County Health Unit, said on Friday morning.

“All those public measures currently in place .... They need to be followed seriously. We all have a role to play.”

According to information released by the Michigan government, 74 of the state’s COVID-19 cases are in the city of Detroit.

Approximately 51 per cent of the state’s total cases are males, and 49 per cent are females.

The age groups most represented among the confirmed cases are people 40 to 49 years old (21 per cent of the total), 50 to 59 years old (20 per cent), and 60 to 69 years old (19 per cent).

Only one per cent of the cases are people younger than 20 years old.

There have been three deaths in Michigan due to COVID-19.

As part of containment efforts, the Canadian and U.S. federal governments have jointly banned all non-essential travel over the border, including at all Windsor-detroit crossings. The ban is scheduled to go into effect 12:01 a.m. Saturday.

Nevertheless, community transmission of COVID -19 has become a concern in Ontario, particularly in Toronto and Ottawa.

Ahmed said community transmission refers to cases that are not travel-related and have no obvious connections with other confirmed cases.

Health authorities are continuing to investigate the province’s recent second death related to the novel coronavirus: a man in his 50s in the Halton Region who had not recently travelled.

“At this time, it is not only information that is needed to (avoid) panic and fear, but the expertise, knowledge, and skills of our primary care providers,” Ahmed said.

Meanwhile, as of Friday morning, Windsor-essex still has zero confirmed cases of COVID-19.

So far, 260 people from the region have been tested, with 150 test results pending.

Theresa Marentette, CEO of the health unit, advised that test results can now take as much as seven days to process.

“This may soon change, as samples will be tested at our London lab (in the future),” Marentette said.

“Right now, all of our samples are going to Toronto.”

The Windsor-essex County Health Unit continues to advise all residents to be strict about handwashing and respiratory etiquette, to be disciplined about social distancing, and to stay at home as much as possible, including working from home.

With files from The Detroit Free Press