◆ Coronavirus is Detroit’s latest crisis.
DETROIT — It has seen its population plummet, houses fall to ruin, and the largest municipal bankruptcy in the nation. Now another crisis has descended on Detroit: the coronavirus.
In less than two weeks, 35 people with the virus have died in Detroit. The police chief has tested positive, and more than 500 police officers are in quarantine. On Sunday morning, the city’s downtown, a center of Detroit’s post-bankruptcy resurgence, was quiet and mostly deserted.
The coronavirus has landed on this city’s doorstep, its unwelcome arrival a sign of the outbreak’s growing reach across America to cities far from the coasts and not as densely populated as New York. But the virus could place a unique burden on Detroit, a city of 670,000 people where 3 of 10 residents live in poverty, a large number have asthma and other chronic diseases, and hospitals are already overwhelmed. It is a city that has seen more than its share of crises, and now finds itself staring at yet another.
Residents have been shaken by the number of people falling ill from the virus, including a well-known community activist, Marlowe Stoudamire, who died last week at 43. He had attended a neighborhood pancake breakfast March 6 where several police officers apparently were exposed.
“Everybody is starting to understand that this virus is looking for more hosts,” Mayor Mike Duggan of Detroit said in an interview Sunday. “Even if you’re young and healthy.”
By Monday afternoon, with more than 6,500 cases, Michigan was fourth in known cases among the states, behind New York, New Jersey and California. Across the state, at least 197 residents have died, placing Michigan fourth across the nation in deaths from the virus, behind New York, Washington and New Jersey.
No one is sure why the Detroit region is seeing a flood of cases in the weeks since officials announced the state’s first known case March 10. Duggan said he suspected the region’s international airport, with a significant number of flights from overseas, may have contributed to the spread.