Michigan Adds Over 650 New Coronavirus Cases, 2 Deaths

MICHIGAN — More than 650 more cases of the coronavirus were reported in Michigan Wednesday, according to the most recent data provided by state health officials.

Michigan added 657 cases of the respiratory illness, bringing the state's total case total to 84,707. Officials also reported that two more people have died from the coronavirus, bringing the death toll in Michigan to 6,221.

More than 600 new cases of the virus were reported in Michigan on Tuesday, when the state eclipsed the 84,000 mark for total cases. The state also added eight more deaths Tuesday.

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Michigan Sees Plateau In New Cases

During a news conference addressing coronavirus cases in Michigan on Wednesday, Dr. Joneigh S. Khaldun, the Chief Medical Executive and Chief Deputy Director for Health for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, said that the number of cases in Michigan are once again plateauing after a slight uptick in June and July.

She added that the spread of the virus varies by region in Michigan, explaining that regions surrounding Detroit, Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo have more than 40 new cases per million people per day. Khaldun said the numbers have decreased over the past two weeks.

Regions surrounding Jackson and in northern Michigan have about 35 new cases per million people each day, and both regions have seen decreases.

In the Saginaw and Lansing regions, fewer than 30 new cases per million people are reported each day, Khaldun said. The regions have seen a decrease in the past week, Khaldun said.

"As we all know, even if a trend is stabilizing, it only takes a few people to create an outbreak and have the disease spread rapidly," Khaldun warned. "So these plateauing trends are not reasons to let our guard down."

Whitmer recently called on state departments to step up enforcement of guidelines put in place to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, which she said is one of the keys to preventing another surge in cases.

A New Public Health Crisis

Michigan will begin addressing racism as a public health crisis, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Wednesday in a news conference.

"The pandemic has revealed, confirmed and highlighted the deadly nature of these preexisting inequities caused by systematic racism," Whitmer said Wednesday. "COVID-19 is more than four times as likely to take the life of a Black Michigander than a white one."

The governor also announced that the state was creating the Black Leadership Advisory Council, which will act in an advisory capacity to the governor and develop, review, and recommend policies and actions designed to eradicate and prevent discrimination and racial inequity in Michigan.

"If you're a Black person in Michigan, or if you're a person of color in our state, the pandemic has been even more difficult," Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist said. "In all of these cases you see, we know that coronavirus itself doesn't discriminate. But it literally feeds upon the discriminatory inequities that exist in our system."