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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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."

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.

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.”

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.”

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.

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. 

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.

Arash Javanbakht, assistant professor of psychiatry, wrote an article for The Conversation about how the pandemic has changed our normal lives. “The COVID-19 pandemic is different from many crises in that it has affected all of us regardless of politics, economics, religion, age or nationality. This virus is a good reminder that humanity is vulnerable to what nature throws at us, and that we are all in this together. This pandemic has profoundly changed our way of living. Overnight, dining out, exercising at the gym or seeing friends in person became impossible for millions of Americans. Remote working, reduced work hours and income, and uncertainty are indeed stressful. Most of us are having to make important adjustments and quickly learn new skills, such as how to do virtual meetings or be motivated to work from home. Given we are creatures of habit, these adjustments can be hard. We are also stressed by continuous exposure to sad news, often contradictory predictions and recommendations coming from different sources. The constantly changing and evolving nature of this situation is very frustrating.”

Top research doctors at four Southeast Michigan health systems and Wayne State University have formed a partnership to participate in large-scale COVID-19 drug trials they hope will lead to a vaccine, antiviral medicines and other drugs to combat the deadly coronavirus. Physician participants who formed the study group are part of Henry Ford Health System, Ascension Michigan, Beaumont Health, Detroit Medical Center and Wayne State. "We hope our work here will last well into the future, should COVID-19 continue to be a threat," said Dr. Phillip Levy, professor and associate chair for research in Wayne’s State’s department of emergency medicine. "By combining forces, we can marshal greater research capabilities to effectively test vaccines and treatments to combat this virus."

Nearly 3.3 million people are out of work in the United States, according to the most recent jobs report from the U.S. Department of Labor; quadrupling the previous record set in 1982. "These numbers are unprecedented. 3.3 million jobless claims. I think the high water mark in the 80s was 600,000. No one saw this coming," said Matthew Roling, executive director of Wayne State's Office of Business Innovation. And in Michigan, unemployment claims are also way up. There's been a 550 percent increase in the number of claims filed compared to those usually filed during this time of year, according to the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency. "And I think it speaks to the total lack of clarity that most employers feel right now," Roling said. He added that small businesses in the state have been hit especially hard under the "Stay Home, Stay Safe" executive order. “Employers don’t really have the freedom or flexibility with their balance sheets the money that they have available, to keep these employees on. And so the most humane thing for them to do is to let these folks go so that they can seek benefits," he said. But Roling also pointed out that Detroit's automakers shifting gears during this crisis, to help make vital medical equipment, is moving Michigan in the right direction in the both the short and long-term. “While obviously making ventilators might not employ the same number of people as making pick-up trucks, a lot of Michigan’s economy is based manufacturing," he said, noting that industry tends.

As the coronavirus advances, it is taking a particularly harsh toll on the many who are caring for a loved one with dementia or Alzheimer’s, the most common form of dementia. While the disease itself does not necessarily place patients at high risk for contracting the virus, they and their caregivers face a range of special challenges. Dementia patients are typically very sensitive to changes in routine and often require a great deal of hands-on care, both factors that are hard to manage now. Family members who usually rely on day care programs or visiting caregivers may be finding themselves with full-time responsibilities, while others whose loved ones are in facilities are unable to visit them now. Among the greatest challenges is how to minimize disruption in care that is intensely personal. “Care for dementia patients is ‘high touch,’” said Peter Lichtenberg, a professor of psychology and director of the Institute of Gerontology at Wayne State University. He recommends that caregivers take measures to avoid their own exposures by having provisions delivered, disinfecting surfaces and employing proper hand-washing techniques

Metro Detroit has become one of the nation’s COVID-19 hotspots. And experts predict the situation will get even more dire in the next several weeks. The city of Detroit is a hotspot within the hotspot. As of Thursday, the city reported 888 COVID-19 cases, with 19 deaths so far. Why is that? Jonathan Stillo, a medical anthropologist and assistant professor at Wayne State University, said some of the explanation for Detroit’s numbers in particular comes down to simple geography—densely-populated urban centers foster the spread of communicable diseases, and Detroit may just be a bit ahead of the curve compared to some other places. “But we’re still nowhere near where we need to be in terms of seeing the whole picture,” Stillo said. “Right now, we’re only seeing little snapshots, and those are totally dependent on how much testing is happening. “It makes the job of researchers, and folks who are trying to figure out what’s going on and make policy to address it, really hard. We’re flying blind, I think, in a lot of ways.” Stillo said data on racial demographics would be helpful. So would data about whether groups of people who are disproportionately sick and dying have certain underlying conditions. Although it’s difficult to tell whether specific racial groups such as African Americans might be at higher risk from COVID-19, Stillo said some basic public health and social science data tell us that’s probably the case. “African American folks in Detroit have higher rates of asthma, they have higher rates of diabetes, they have higher rates of some of these conditions that we think may make outcomes worse,” Stillo said. “You’re sort of layering biological problems on top of already-existing social problems.

Tamara Hew-Butler, associate professor of exercise and sports science, and Mariane Fahlman, professor of kinesiology, health and sport studies, wrote an article offering practical tips on how much people should (and should not) exercise. “Both too much and too little are bad while somewhere in the middle is just right. Scientists commonly refer to this statistical phenomenon as a “J-shaped” curve. Research has shown exercise can influence the body’s immune system.