DETROIT – Michigan’s COVID cases have risen for the seventh consecutive week. Hospitals are overwhelmed with patients and our state is home to 9 of the 10 metro areas with the country’s highest recent case rates.
Saturday, the state is reporting 6,892 new cases and 74 additional deaths. 57 were identified during a record review.
April 10, 2021: Michigan coronavirus cases up to 738,023; Death toll now at 16,500
On the national front, the United States passed 31,085,000 total coronavirus cases and more than 561,000 people have died from the virus. These are numbers from the Johns Hopkins University database.
One of the reasons for Michigan’s surge is that the UK Variant is prevalent in our state.
According to the most recent estimates, the variant is about 60% more contagious and 67% more deadly than the original form of the virus. Scientists at the University of Oxford said infected people seem to carry more of the UK variant virus and they carry it for longer.
To combat the rising numbers, Saturday was “Family Day” at the TCF Center in Downtown Detroit.
Any of the city of Detroit’s 9,000 employees could bring their family with them to get vaccinated. Mayor Mike Duggan said it’s a part of Detroit’s effort to get city workers safely back to work. The two requirements for a family member are their family member must work for the city and they must meet the age requirement of 16 and older.
“We have heard how important it was to employees to have their family members, their household members to get the vaccines, so they can call feel safer together,” said Elisa Malile, the Deputy Chief of Staff to Mayor Mike Duggan.
Kenyetta Smith and her family took advantage of this opportunity. They said it’s important to get the vaccine, so they can get back to normal.
“We want to get back to family time,” Smith said. ”We have a big family. We like to gather but we don’t want to compromise our older people in the family, so we all came to do our part.”
The City of Detroit is launching eight neighborhood COVID-19 vaccination sites, adding to an expansion at TCF Center, to combat surging cases and hospitalizations in the city.
From Monday, April 12 through Friday, April 16, there will be 1-2 sites operating each day and each city council district will have at least one vaccination event.
Each site will offer the Johnson & Johnson single-shot vaccine.
READ: Detroit launches 8 neighborhood COVID vaccine sites as cases surge in city
Smith said she’s hopeful things will calm down soon, “Hoping that we can get back to normal, start gathering and start going out more and more relaxed about everything.”
| Date | Location | Address | City Council District |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday, April 12 | Henry Ford High School | 20000 Evergreen Road | D1 |
| Monday, April 12 | Western International High School | 1500 Scotten Avenue | D6 |
| Tuesday, April 13 | A. Philip Randolph Career and Technical Center (Randolph Technical High School) | 17101 Hubbell Avenue | D2 |
| Wednesday, April 14 | Brenda Scott Academy | 18440 Hoover Street | D3 |
| Wednesday, April 14 | Cass Technical High School | 2501 Second Avenue | D5 |
| Thursday, April 15 | Herman A. Breithaupt Career and Technical Center | 9300 Hubbell Avenue | D7 |
| Thursday, April 15 | Islamic Center of Detroit | 14350 Tireman Avenue | D7 |
| Friday, April 16 | East English Village Preparatory Academy | 5020 Cadieux Road | D4 |
All location hours are 8 p.m. until 5 p.m. All vaccinations must be scheduled first by calling 313-230-0505
Related: Looking for COVID-19 vaccines in Metro Detroit: Track openings, clinics, appointments