COVID-19 in the news

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As coronavirus bears down on Michigan, college football coaches brace for the worst

Wayne State University football coach Paul Winters has found a silver lining. The coach may have lost spring practice, but he has already tackled the work he usually reserves for June and July. In some ways, he said, “I will be better prepared for a season than I ever have.” As the novel coronavirus has rocked the country and shut down the sports world, there is growing anxiety within college athletics about the prospect of football not being played in 2020. That uncertainty is palpable in Michigan, and 21 colleges or universities that have NCAA football programs in the Football Bowl Subdivision, Division II or III were polled about their thoughts on the upcoming season.
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Wayne State University employee studying sociology dies from coronavirus

A Wayne State University employee who was also studying for a degree in sociology died from complications related to the coronavirus, WSU President M. Roy Wilson announced Saturday. Darrin Adams worked at the university for almost six years as a custodian, primarily in Manoogian Hall. “He was one of us, and we all grieve his loss. Darrin leaves behind family and friends, and we keep them in our thoughts as they deal with this unexpected loss. We hope that their grief is assuaged by good memories of a life well lived,” Wilson said.
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Wayne State University Physician Group buys four rapid test units

More instant tests are in the hands of Detroit doctors fighting against the coronavirus pandemic. Wayne State University Physician Group has purchased four new devices that quickly deliver COVID-19 test results. The devices can process a total of 500 tests each day and provide results within an hour. They will be placed in Detroit hospitals so patients who test positive can be isolated immediately. “Once patients have symptoms or they have contracted the virus, the most important thing is access to testing, and the faster we can get the results from testing the better job we will be able to do,” said Dr. Charles Shanley, CEO of Wayne State University Physician Group.
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Local police trying to get COVID-19 testing for officers

A group of doctors is helping test first responders get tested in southeast Michigan, but local law enforcement say it could be beneficial statewide. “We’re very appreciative of what this physician’s group is doing,” said Saginaw Township Police Chief Donald Pussehl. Wayne State University physicians have tested 1,800 first responders in southeast Michigan at no cost. Pussehl, and other first responders to help expand Wayne State’s mobile COVID-19 testing.
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Black people are 40% of COVID-19 deaths in Michigan. What does that mean?

Black people make up over a third of all COVID-19 cases in Michigan, according to data from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. While black people make up only about 12% of the state’s population, they make up about 40% of all COVID-19 deaths reported. Jonathan Stillo, an assistant professor of anthropology, works right in the city where the highest concentration of cases and deaths exists – Detroit. Stillo says the pandemic was always going to adversely affect vulnerable populations, which includes impoverished communities. “These racial breakdowns we have here could be used to justify the allocation of resources that could help cities like Detroit, even beyond this COVID crisis,” he said. “Certain people are really suffering right now, and they’re people who have the same right to health and security as anyone else does. Maybe this crisis can highlight that.”
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ACCESS providing drive-through COVID-19 testing for first responders, medical personnel

ACCESS Community Health and Research Center, in Dearborn, is among the sites offering drive-through COVID-19 testing for symptomatic medical personnel and first responders, who face exposure risks daily while on-the-job. In partnership with the Wayne State University Physician Group and Wayne State University Health Sciences, ACCESS is providing drive-through testing at two different locations. Dr. Phillip Levy, who is heading the drive-through testing initiative, is the assistant vice president for translational science and clinical research innovation at Wayne State University, and chief innovation officer for the Wayne State University Physician Group. His specialty is emergency medicine, and he is a professor of emergency medicine at Wayne State University. Levy said the people being swabbed are both grateful for the opportunity to be tested and afraid of what the test results might be. “They are afraid for their own health, and grateful that there are organizations such as Wayne State and the Wayne State Physician Group, as well as ACCESS, who are actually there to help them get some answers as to whether or not they are infected,” he said. Levy said they are only testing symptomatic people, in compliance with the NDHSS guidance.
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Black communities hit harder by coronavirus in Michigan, not just Detroit

Residents of Michigan communities with large African-American populations are disproportionately sickened and killed by the coronavirus, according to a Bridge Magazine analysis of public health data. Detroit, which is 79 percent African American, has 7 percent of Michigan’s population but 26 percent of the state’s infections and 25 percent of its deaths. The outbreak so far is centered in southeast Michigan, as Wayne, Oakland and Macomb have 80 percent of the state’s 9,334 cases as of Wednesday. Bridge’s analysis of public records shows: In suburban Wayne County, communities with the largest black populations — Highland Park, Redford Township, Ecorse, River Rouge and Romulus — have roughly double the rate of infection as the county. In Oakland County, infection rates are highest in majority-black Southfield and suburbs with higher-than-average black populations: Lathrup Village, West Bloomfield and Farmington Hills. In Macomb County, nearly 35 percent of all infections were among African Americans, who comprise less than 15 percent of the county’s population. County maps show the most cases are in southern Macomb including Warren, Eastpointe and Roseville, all of which have a higher percentage of African-American residents. Matthew Seeger, a communications professor at Wayne State University who has worked with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said public health officials must tailor messages to different audiences by using different media. He said Whitmer, Duggan and Evans have done an “exceptional job” so far.
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Michigan medical school, nursing students to get early start in careers to aid in coronavirus outbreak

As the coronavirus outbreak strains Michigan's health care workforce, hospitals and officials are looking to soon-to-be graduates for help. The state's licensing department issued a directive that allows nurses to obtain a temporary license early to help aid in the growing number of coronavirus infections. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued an executive order that temporarily suspended the scope of practice laws and allowed doctors and nurses to treat coronavirus patients. Her administration put out a request for nurses and doctors to help staff the 1,000-bed emergency field hospital being constructed inside TCF Center in downtown Detroit. Wayne State University has 72 undergraduates expected to complete the nursing program this semester, spokesman Matt Lockwood said in an email. "Our nursing students are graduating at the usual time, but the new rules from (LARA) will allow them to work on a temporary license while they await their licensing exam," he said. Wayne State has no plans to speed up the graduation of medical students. Citing guidance from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, Lockwood said the intent is "noble" but "problematic." The ACGME said entering unplanned residencies early is a "highly undesirable path" due to potential rule violations and uncertainty applicability of the experience to initial board certification.
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Surge in Detroit COVID-19 patients could lead to rationing, do not resuscitate orders

The Henry Ford Health System has developed a policy officials say they hope to never have to use in which a scarce supply of ventilators would be reserved for patients who have the best chance of getting better. Other hospital systems nationwide are debating whether to order that COVID-19 patients who are dying should not be resuscitated, because the process exposes health personnel and equipment to so much infection they might not be able to help other patients. They add there is a poor chance that many of these patients will survive for very long even if all measures are taken to prolong their live. Lance Gable, a Wayne State University law professor, is an internationally-recognized expert on bioethics, and helped Michigan’s state government develop guidelines for using scare medical resources during a public health emergency. “We are going to have to make some tough decisions about how to best allocate resources,” Gable said.
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A doctor explains why Detroit’s COVID-19 cases are ‘pretty much exploding right now’

Having a coronavirus outbreak in Detroit is like “putting oil to the fire,” says infectious disease specialist Dr. Teena Chopra, who is a professor of internal medicine at Wayne State University’s School of Medicine. The city is set to become on the U.S. hot spots of the pandemic largely due to the city’s higher risk and “socially disadvantaged” population, according to Dr. Chopra, who spoke with As it Happens host Carol Off.
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#CoronaCommencement: How COVID-19 has affected college graduations for the class of 2020

May marks the start of commencement season for many colleges and universities across the country. However, the current coronavirus crisis has put many spring graduations in jeopardy. Wayne State University, Michigan State University, and Michigan Tech have all postponed their spring commencement ceremonies, and the University of Michigan canceled spring commencement exercises across all its campuses. For college seniors, it has been hard to process the crisis.
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Three weeks into Michigan’s coronavirus crisis, the numbers are rising exponentially

It was three weeks ago today that Michiganders woke to the start of the state’s coronavirus crisis. Between Wednesday, March 25, and Tuesday, March 31, the number of completed coronavirus tests for Michigan residents increased from 9,109 to 25,711. Of those 25,711 completed coronavirus tests on Michigan residents, 6,150-- or 24% -- were positive, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human and Services. It’s unclear how many tests are pending. Some Michigan residents have been pushing for public data on the number of people who have recovered for coronavirus. But it’s too soon to have those numbers, considering the timetable of the epidemic and the timetable of illness and recovery for individual patients, said Dr. Paul Kilgore, a public-health doctor and epidemiologist at Wayne State University. He said that coronavirus symptoms typically last from 10 to 14 days and many are still recuperating “for a couple of weeks afterwards,” he said. “If you’re in the intensive care unit, your recovery is going to be even longer.” Considering the first cases in Michigan were confirmed only three weeks ago, “it’s not all” surprising there is no public data on recoveries from coronavirus, Kilgore said.

Apply here: How to spend $2.2 trillion and rescue the economy

President Donald Trump aims to shovel $2.2 trillion into the U.S. economy over the next few weeks to try to cushion its free fall. But that means putting his fate in the hands of banks, profit-minded businesses and government bureaucrats he has frequently derided, along with a man who has emerged as arguably the biggest power broker to business in Washington: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. The relief package, which includes direct cash payments, $349 billion in loans for small businesses and a $500 billion corporate rescue fund, is the biggest ever in U.S. history. Trump has warned Americans to brace for a “hell of a bad two weeks," with 100,000 to 240,000 coronavirus deaths now projected in the U.S. even if current social distancing guidelines are followed. At the same time, the country is hemorrhaging more than 3 million jobs a week, with economic forecasters warning of a deep recession. Peter Henning, a law professor at Wayne State University and a former Justice Department attorney, said the act was written to give Mnuchin tremendous power. “He can negotiate the terms of any loan or loan guarantee, so it’s a much broader authority than back in 2008, when Congress offered a bailout to banks and automakers during the last financial crisis.”
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2 of Detroit’s homeless positive for COVID-19 as city adds 300-plus beds, testing

Two people in the city’s homeless shelter system have tested positive for COVID-19 and are being separated with 27 others at a new facility opened amid the fight against the novel coronavirus pandemic. Detroit has added about 325 shelter beds for homeless people, rooms for isolation and launched a formal testing program for symptomatic members of the homeless community in an attempt to quell the spread. Wayne State University, the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan and the affiliated DMC Foundation have partnered for on-site COVID-19 testing at the location. Two staffers from Wayne State University are visiting the shelter on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays to get swabs for testing, said Dr. Phillip Levy, professor of emergency medicine and chief innovation officer for the WSU Physician Group. Levy echoed experts in calling homeless people particularly at risk in the outbreak, saying members of the community don't have regular interactions with health care providers and have limited care other than emergency departments. "If we can avoid them getting exposed and potentially succumbing to worse outcomes because of their other risk factors, then it's really a no-brainer," he said. "... That's how you measure a society, how it takes care of its most vulnerable."
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COVID-19 and chloroquine: FDA authorizes use, but risks persist

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued an emergency authorization to use chloroquine and hyrdoxychloroquine to treat patients with COVID-19. In a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services, the FDA’s Chief Scientist, Rear Admiral Denise Hinton, wrote that the potential benefits of treatment with these drugs outweigh the potential risks. She based that conclusion on “limited in vitro and anecdotal data” available from use of the drugs in other countries, and the fact that the novel coronavirus has created a national public health emergency. Chloroquine has been used for decades to treat malaria. A similar drug, hydroxychloroquine, is commonly prescribed for patients with lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and other conditions. Clinical trials are underway to determine if these are effective treatments for COVID-19. But until those tests are completed, physicians warn against calling it a cure yet. “There’s no good evidence at this point, no good randomized control trials to show that it will make a difference,” says Dr. Cynthia Aaron, medical director of the Michigan Poison Center at Wayne State University’s School of Medicine. Aaron says chloroquine and hyrdoxychloroquine did show some promise in treating people with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), which is also caused by a strain of coronavirus. “But to say that there’s irrefutable evidence that it’s effective at this point, that just doesn’t exist,” Aaron says.
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Resilience and hope in the face of fear: Local thespians speak extemporaneously

Local theaters are silent as productions have paused to limit the spread of COVID-19. While some people stuck at home rediscover hobbies, local thespians feel lost and adrift without their creative outlet, missing the chance to create, perform, enjoy the spotlight and an audience’s applause. Sarah Hawkins, an area actor who teachers theater at Wayne State University, has had her classes move to an online platform. The online platform is challenging for theater performance students who rely on human contact and full-body movement to practice their art. “I feel fortunate to have the steady employment of teaching…” she said. “I am struggling with how to best support my students in their creative endeavors, knowing they will be entering a field that will be hard-hit after this pandemic comes to an end.”
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A coronavirus spike in a big city, and in a small one

Jonathan Stillo, a medical anthropologist and assistant professor at Wayne State University, discussed the coronavirus spike in the Detroit. “African Americans in Detroit have higher rates of asthma and diabetes. They have higher rates of some of these conditions that we think might make outcomes worse. You’re sort of layering biological problems on top of already existing social problems – issues like lack of health care, lack of insurance, and unstable housing.”
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Opinion: Incoming freshmen, don't panic. Colleges will support you

Dawn Medley, associate vice president of enrollment management, wrote an opinion piece reassuring incoming freshmen during the COVID-19 crisis. “Today, my entire enrollment management division is working remotely as is 95% of our university. I spend my days at a laptop, with headphones, and managing in a time unlike any other. First we focused on making sure that our current students had their needs met. For some, they went home. For others, we are their home. Now we are taking events designed around the “in person experience” and turning them into “experiences for the person.” Our faculty are moving mountains to take all of their experience and plans for coursework and distill it into educational, engaging and electronic forms…Parents and students, higher education institutions will support you. No, we don’t have all the answers yet because the questions and landscape change daily, but we are adapting rapidly.
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'Southeast Michigan is burning': Michigan's coronavirus case count doubles every 3 days

Sick people fill intensive care units of already overtaxed southeastern Michigan hospitals at a pace of about 100 new coronavirus patients a day. So far, 111 Michiganders have died, and at least 4,650 had confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of Saturday afternoon, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services. What we do know is that the official coronavirus case count is currently doubling about every three days in Michigan. "Southeast Michigan is burning right now," said Dr. Teena Chopra, medical director of infection prevention and hospital epidemiology at DMC Harper University Hospital and a professor at Wayne State University. "Our hospital systems are being overrun at this point," Chopra said. "They are all struggling. ... We are under-resourced and we need to make sure that we get more help. You know, we are asking, all of us are asking, for help. And the governor knows that." It has been just 19 days since the state reported its first two confirmed cases of COVID-19 on the evening of March 10. Eight days later, a Southgate man in his 50s was the first to die of the disease, and that's when the case counts around the state began to rise rapidly because of "a combination of increased detection of cases through laboratory testing as well as community-wide transmission," said Dr. Paul Kilgore, an associate professor at Wayne State University's Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. Reducing the rate of COVID-19 infections hinges on how well people adhere to the governor's order, said Kilgore. "The way I've been looking at social distancing is that it's really kind of our vaccine. You're the vaccine. I'm the vaccine. And the extent to which we apply this intervention to the population is exactly the way that we would apply a vaccine. The more people that do social distancing, or the greater the percentage of the population that social distance, that will determine the effectiveness or efficacy of social distancing, just like you would evaluate a vaccine," Kilgore said. 
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For some recovering addicts, Michigan’s stay-home order sparks fear of relapse

Michigan’s stay-home order, meant to protect the health of state residents, could be a challenge to the health of recovering alcoholics and addicts who’ve found in-person support meetings canceled and services like methadone dispensaries modified. Now, they’ll have to navigate a world where many paths to recovery have become digital. Many meetings are moving online, and some in recovery are trying to stay in contact through phone calls and Internet meetings. Still, some state leaders in the recovery community acknowledge that the isolation that comes from being cooped up at home sparks fears of relapse. For many Michiganders, the promise of a $1,200 check and other unemployment benefits from the federal government will spell relief. But for those who are recovering from substance abuse addictions, a big check could trigger a relapse. There are some ways to avoid this potential trigger, according to Dr. David Ledgerwood, director of Wayne State University School of Medicine’s nicotine and tobacco research division. People in recovery should find a way to ensure that their stimulus check goes towards necessities, Ledgerwood suggested, such as setting up a bank account specifically for paying bills. They could also tell a trusted family member to distribute the money. Telemedicine therapy can be beneficial for folks who have limited transportation options or duties like childcare, said Dr. Arash Javanbakht, director of the stress, trauma and anxiety research clinic at Wayne State University. Doing therapy from the comfort of one’s home could also provide new insight for clinicians into a patient’s living situation as well, he added. Javanbakht, who had been seeing patients through video calls once a week before the outbreak, said he and his patients were skeptical of teletherapy at first, but left their sessions feeling excited by the prospect.