Gov. Whitmer speaks on President Biden’s visit to Michigan’s Pfizer facility
Friday was a big day for Michigan as President Joe Biden toured the Pfizer manufacturing facility in Portage. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer pledged more vaccines will be available in the coming weeks.
“Every Michigander who wants a vaccine will get a vaccine. They have acknowledged that they’ll have 120 million shots more by the end of March, 200 million by the end of May, and another 100 million after that by the end of July, so that tells us that there are more vaccines coming,” said Whitmer after Biden’s Michigan visit.
Texas governor’s biggest donors: Energy industry that failed
As frozen Texas reels under one of the worst electricity outages in U.S. history, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has blamed grid operators and iced-over wind turbines but gone easier on another culprit: an oil and gas industry that is the state’s dominant business and his biggest political contributor.
Afghan police: 3 separate Kabul explosions kill 5, wound 2
Three sticky bomb attacks in the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday killed at least five people and wounded two others, a police official said, amid a surge in violence in the war-torn country.
Weather: Still some light snow yet to go
There will be more sun today as temperatures remain colder than average. Snow is in the forecast for both Sunday and Monday.
Coronavirus in Michigan 💉
The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in Michigan has risen to 579,284 as of Friday, including 15,296 deaths, state officials report.
Friday’s update includes 1,193 new cases and 23 additional deaths. On Thursday, the state reported a total of 578,091 cases and 15,273 deaths.
New COVID-19 cases have plateaued and deaths are starting to slow. Testing has been steady with more than 40,000 diagnostic tests reported per day on average, with the 7-day positive rate down below 4.0% as of Thursday. Hospitalizations continue to decline over the last several weeks.
Michigan’s 7-day moving average for daily cases was 845 on Thursday -- near the lowest since October. The 7-day death average was 37 on Thursday. The state’s fatality rate is 2.6%. The state also reports “active cases,” which were listed at 44,800 on Thursday -- near the lowest it’s been since October.
New Today: Coronavirus in Michigan: Here’s what to know Feb. 20, 2021
Here’s a look at more of the data: