The White House is warning that the next five hotspots for coronavirus outbreak will likely be inside the states of Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Georgia, and Connecticut.
Michigan has been hit particularly hard by the disease, reporting about as many confirmed cases of COVID-19 as California, which has about four times as many people. The vast majority of Michigan cases are coming from in and around Detroit.
In Detroit alone, residents make up 24% of the deaths statewide and 26% of the 10,791 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. City Council President Brenda Jones, who is also running for Congress, said she tested positive.
Drive-up testing is occurring at the old state fairgrounds in Detroit. Mayor Mike Duggan said 43% of the 500 people who passed through last Friday, the first day, tested positive.
The state’s chief medical executive, Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, said the steady rise in overall cases means there likely will be a need for additional field hospitals beyond one being set up at the TCF Center in Detroit.
On Thursday, Georgia’s governor published his order telling people to stay at home as known coronavirus infections in the state rose past 5,400 and officials blamed the virus for record-shattering unemployment claims.
Kemp’s order will take effect at 6 p.m. Friday and last through at least April 13. The sobering new figures on the pandemic’s toll in Georgia came just a month after Kemp announced the state’s first confirmed infections March 2.
At least 176 deaths in Georgia have been linked to the new virus, the state Department of Public Health reported. And more than 1,100 have been hospitalized since Kemp announced March 2 that officials had confirmed Georgia’s first two coronavirus infections.
In Indiana, twenty-four more people have died in Indiana from coronavirus-related illnesses, boosting the state’s virus death toll past 100 while its confirmed cases topped 3,400, state health officials said Friday.
The new deaths increased Indiana’s statewide deaths to 102 for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, while another 408 confirmed cases of the virus boosted the state’s total to 3,437, following corrections to the previous day’s total, the Indiana State Department of Health said.
The department has said that the additional deaths it reports each day occurred over multiple days. Those deaths are reported once there is a confirmed positive test for COVID-19 in each case.
In Connecticut, a 7-week-old baby who died at a hospital in the Hartford area had the coronavirus, Gov. Ned Lamont said Wednesday. The exact cause of death is unknown.
Dr. James Gill, the state’s chief medical examiner, said the infant had no other known medical conditions. An autopsy has been done but more tests are needed before a cause of death can be determined, he said.
“That baby was less than 7 weeks old. And just a reminder that nobody is safe with this virus,” Lamont said at a news conference after touring a temporary hospital set up at Southern Connecticut State University.
In Chicago, police have started checking the identification of anyone entering a four-block area in the city at the center of the drug trade. Authorities say the move is meant to discourage gang members from congregating outside.
Friday, Illinois has barred all activities at state parks, fish and wildlife areas, recreational areas and historic sites in another move to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
Colleen Callahan, director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, said in a statement that hunters and anglers aren’t allowed to receive refunds on state-issued permits or permit transfers due to administrative guidelines under the state wildlife code.
“We understand the problems these laws create for our sportsmen and sportswomen and are reviewing all possible solutions,” Callahan said.
The Associated Press contributed to this article