DETROIT – The number of coronavirus cases in Michigan officially surpassed 1 million as of Sept. 22, according to officials.
Wednesday’s update brings the total number of confirmed COVID cases in Michigan to 1,001,989, including 20,781 deaths.
Dr. Asha Shajahan and other healthcare providers have been on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Back in 2020, I did not think that we were gonna have one in 500 Americans die from COVID-19. I also didn’t think that we would surpass the Spanish Flu deaths as well,” Shajahan said.
Gary Taylor, a nurse at Beaumont Hospital, said he’s even more surprised about how the United States, as a nation, has responded to the coronavirus crisis.
“It’s the infighting. It’s the division in America that it’s caused. That is the biggest surprise to me. I thought something like this would pull us together,” Taylor said.
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Shajahan said they did not realize just how long the effects of COVID-19 would be felt.
“I didn’t think that we would still be masking a year and a half later and I definitely didn’t think that if we did have a prevention method, that people would not be willing to take it,” Shajahan said.
Both insist that if Americans don’t take the necessary precautionary steps we could be fighting coronavirus even longer.
“Until you get everybody, or at least a majority of the people, working together. I think we’re still going to be dealing with this for a while,” Taylor said.
Both healthcare providers recommend getting the coronavirus vaccine as it’s the best way to slow the spread of COVID.
“I think that we are probably going in a positive direction, but I wish that it would be a little bit quicker,” Shajahan said.
Read: Michigan surpasses 1 million COVID cases -- reports 6,079 new cases, 81 deaths over past 2 days
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