Michigan health officials are reporting 6,940 new cases of the coronavirus and 45 additional COVID-19 deaths.
Michigan has now had 236,225 total confirmed coronavirus cases and 7,811 COVID-19 deaths.
Wednesday the state was at 229,285 confirmed cases with 7,766 deaths.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is now providing weekly updates on the number of people who have recovered from COVID-19. These numbers are updated every Saturday.
As of November 6, 128,981 are being reported as recovered in Michigan.
The state defines ‘recovered’ as the number of persons with a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis who are alive 30 days post-onset (or referral date if onset is not available).
Leaders from hospital systems across the state held a virtual news conference Thursday morning to essentially sound the alarm about where the state stands with its battle against COVID-19.
They say the number of hospitalizations could soon exceed spring numbers by the end of the month.
Spectrum Health says the positivity rate for their tests is five times higher than what it was a month ago.
All hospitals echoed the same message: the virus is not turning around and it’s impacting everyone, both young and old.
The latest average positivity rate in coronavirus tests in Michigan is at 10.2%, meaning that one out of every ten people tested in the last week tested positive for the virus.
The CEO of Chippewa County War Memorial Hospital echoed those numbers in a message to its board members showing just how dire the situation is getting at our hospitals.
He says, “At this point, we are reaching our maximum capacity while trying to maintain normal operations with our current staff. We may need to start canceling elective cases again so those staff can be reassigned to the nursing floors to take care of the COVID-19 patients. I am hopeful that this won’t be necessary, but it isn’t out of the realm of possibilities.”
He goes on to say that McLaren Northern Michigan Hospital asked them to take some of their coronavirus patients because their unit was full.
“We told them that we could not at this time. They then informed us that for the short term that they will not be able to accept any of our transfers because they do not have any open beds. This will mean that if a patient is critical, for any reason, even non-COVID-19 health reasons, that we will not be able to transfer them to McLaren Northern Michigan.”
According to the Detroit Free Press, state Representative Scott VanSingel of Grant tested positive for COVID-19.
He told the paper he was feeling sick for the past two weeks and the illness seemed to come and go but is feeling better now.
VanSingel just earned reelection for his third term last week.
The House cancelled session and all committee meetings for Thursday.
He is at least the seventh member of the state Legislature to test positive during the pandemic.
U.S. health officials are now saying COVID-19 is spreading so fast in the country that the virus is uncontrollable.
The U.S. is shattering records previously unimaginable at the beginning of the pandemic, topping the highest daily case total by adding more than 145,000 new infections.
The Midwest has now become the hardest hit region.
Hospitals in Ohio are becoming increasingly more overwhelmed. Every single one of their 88 counties now have high rates of infection.
In North Dakota, the need for Health Care workers is so dire, the governor issued an order allowing doctors and nurses with COVID-19 to continue working in COVID-19 wards as long as they were asymptomatic and took extra precautions.
And in Nevada the governor warned there could be more restrictions coming.
“If we don’t come together in this moment, I will be forced to take stronger action in 14 days,” said Gov. Steve Sisolak.
Wednesday New York once again imposed curfews as well as new restrictions on restaurants, bars and gyms.
Across the country, 709,000 Americans filed for unemployment benefits for the first time last week.
It’s the fourth straight drop, and a sign that the job market is slowly healing.
The Labor Department adds there were also nearly 300,000 new pandemic unemployment assistance filings.
That program gives benefits to those who aren’t eligible for normal state aid, such as people who are self-employed.
If you include that number, first-time claims stood at 1 million last week.
Continued jobless claims, which count people who have filed for benefits for at least two weeks in a row, was 6.8 million last week.
With Thanksgiving coming up, the CDC released guidelines on how to keep you and your family safe while celebrating.
If you are attending a gathering, bring your own food, drinks, plates, cups and utensils.
In addition to social distancing, wear a mask and safely store your mask while you’re eating or drinking.
Avoid going in and out of areas where food is being prepared or handled, like the kitchen.
Stick to single-use options like condiment packets and disposable items like food containers, plates and utensils.
A lot of these apply to if you’re hosting a gathering too.
If you are, the CDC says to limit the number of guests and have your gathering outdoors.
If sharing food, have one person serve it.
Let guests know ahead of time what they should expect and what you expect from them.
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