DETROIT – During Friday’s coronavirus briefing, the state’s top doctor gave a warning to counties in Southeast Michigan.
Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, Michigan’s chief medical officer, noted that while the City of Detroit has pushed the COVID-19 positivity rate to just 2.6 percent, nearby counties with much higher rates have essentially placed the Motor City under siege.
“It only takes a few people to create an outbreak and have the disease spread in a community,” said Khaldun.
According to state numbers, Wayne, Monroe and Oakland counties all have positivity rates nearly double Detroit’s at more than 4 percent.
DETAILS: Macomb County seeing highest rate of new COVID-19 cases in Detroit Region
In Macomb County the positivity rate is up to nearly seven and a half percent. Percentages are based on the number of cases per million citizens.
This is why it’s so important that businesses, schools and others work with their local health departments to implement strategies to fight the disease at the local level.
Macomb County’s number rivals the entire state of Georgia where this week the state hit a record number of deaths. More than 900 students and staff were also forced to quarantine days after schools reopened to scenes of crowded hallways which meant students had to pass between classes shoulder to shoulder.
Local 4 News was told no one was available to talk on camera about the high case rate in Macomb County. When asked for a written comment, none was provided as of press time.
State officials continue to say Michigan is trending in the right direction just one day after the state topped more than 1,000 cases, a grim number not passed in weeks.
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