The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services have been updating the latest numbers on coronavirus in the state.
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As of March 9, 39 people in Michigan had tested negative for the virus and 124 were still being monitored. Tests are pending on 24 people.
To date, 471 have been referred for assessment and or monitoring, to date, in Michigan.
Michigan is able to conduct testing for coronavirus at a state lab. Michigan is preparing for the possibility of the coronavirus making its way to the state. An Emergency Operations Center in Lansing went into action last week at the request of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Michigan is able to offer same-day testing turnaround, as of March 5, the MDHHS said.
For most of the American public, who are unlikely to be exposed to this virus at this time, the immediate health risk from COVID-19 is considered low.
CDC testing criteria expanded to include any persons, including healthcare workers, who have had close contact with a laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patient within 14 days of symptom onset, or a history of travel to one of the affected geographic areas within 14 days of symptom onset. Affected areas include China, Iran, Italy, Japan and South Korea.
Questions about coronavirus? Ask Dr. McGeorge
Do you have questions about the coronavirus?
Have you seen or heard things about the illness that you’re not sure are true? Do you need a claim about the coronavirus fact-checked? Local 4′s Dr. Frank McGeorge, M.D., is here to help.
Use the form here to share your question, or the claim you’d like investigated. Here are some questions he’s already addressed (click the links to read his answers):
- March 4: Is coronavirus spread by insects?
Virus woes shift from China to Italy as borders slam shut
Starkly illustrating the global east-to-west spread of the new coronavirus, Italy began an extraordinary, sweeping nationwide travel ban on Tuesday while in China, the diminishing threat prompted the president to visit the epicenter and declare: ”“We will certainly defeat this epidemic.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s trip to the central city of Wuhan — his first since the start of the outbreak — was the latest sign that China is edging back toward normal after weeks of extreme quarantine measures to fight the new virus. China reported just 19 new infections Tuesday, down from thousands each day last month.
“Things are slowly returning to normal,” said Yang Tianxiao, a finance worker in Beijing, where the city government is gradually easing restrictions that kept many office workers at home.
Yet in Italy, the situation was anything but normal. Travel restrictions previously limited to the country’s north were extended everywhere, with soldiers and police enforcing bans. Neighboring countries like Malta and Austria slammed their borders with Italy shut, while major carriers like British Airways cancelled all flights to and from the country.
”Get out of northern Italy if you’re there. We don’t know how long the Italian authorities will keep the window open,” Danish Foreign Ministry official Erik Broegger Rasmussen told reporters.
Some 9,172 people were infected in Italy and 463 have died — and many fear the numbers will only worsen.
“We’re only at the beginning,” said Dr. Massimo Galli, head of infectious disease at Sacco Hospital in Milan, where people at the main train station were required to sign forms certifying the necessity of their travel.
Outbreaks flared in France, Spain and Germany, and fear grew in the United States, where more than 750 people are infected and several senior politicians were quarantined.