Michigan Coronavirus Cases Exceed 91,000, Deaths At 6,300
MICHIGAN — State health officials said that 6,300 Michiganders have died from the coronavirus as of Friday morning, while more than 91,000 total cases of the respiratory illness have been confirmed in the state.
Michigan reported 748 new cases of the coronavirus Friday, growing the state's coronavirus cases total to 91,140. The state also reported 11 new deaths attributed to the coronavirus, bringing Michigan's coronavirus death toll to 6,300.
Friday's report comes after the state reported its highest single-day increase in new coronavirus cases in months on Thursday.
Friday's numbers update also comes as the state announced another step to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
State officials on Friday morning announced that Michigan is partnering with Ford Motor Company and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide over 4 million free masks to vulnerable populations.
"This partnership is going to save lives," Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Friday. "Wearing a mask has been proven to reduce the chance of spreading COVID-19 by about 70 percent. According to one estimate, if 95 percent of Americans wore masks between now and December 1, it would save 66,000 American lives."
The announcement came with some relatively good news as well, with Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Chief Medical Executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun noting that despite the uptick in new cases on Thursday and Friday, several regions across the state have seen positive trends regarding the coronavirus.
"We continue to be cautiously optimistic that we are trending in the right direction as a state," she said. "But the spread of COVID-19 continues to look differently by region."
Michigan ranks 18th in the U.S. in coronavirus cases, while ranking ninth in the nation in deaths attributed to the virus. Those rankings, which are from the World Health Organization, were previously much higher, as Michigan once ranked as high as third in the nation in coronavirus deaths.
The U.S. has reported a world-leading 5.4 million cases of the coronavirus, according to the World Health Organization. Nearly 171,000 deaths in the U.S. have been attributed to the virus, while over 2.8 million people in the U.S. have recovered from the illness.
Over 21.2 million cases of the coronavirus have been reported worldwide as of Friday, according to the World Heath Organization. More than 760,000 people have died around the world from the coronavirus, while over 14 million have recovered.
This article originally appeared on the Detroit Patch
