It was three weeks ago today that Michiganders woke to the start of the state’s coronavirus crisis.
The day before, the nation’s eyes were on Michigan as hundreds of thousands of voters went to the polls to decide between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders on the Democratic presidential primary ballot.
It was a decisive victory for Biden. But 90 minutes after the race was called and as returns were still coming in, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer appeared at a hastily-scheduled press conference.
Michigan had confirmed its first two cases of coronavirus COVID-19, one in Wayne County and one in Oakland.
It wasn’t a shock. Michigan was the 38th state to have coronavirus cases, and the last among states in the upper Midwest.
Whitmer and her administration had been gearing up for weeks for a likely epidemic, creating task forces and laying the groundwork for a response. At that March 10 press conference, she immediately declared a state of emergency.
In the 21 days since, the coronavirus pandemic has gone from seeming like a snowball rolling down a hill to an avalanche, impacting almost every aspect of Michiganders’ lives.
Here’s a look at the numbers, three weeks into the crisis.
As of 10 a.m. March 31, Michigan had more than 7,500 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
There have been 7,615 confirmed cases of coronavirus reported to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
The numbers begin to increase significantly after March 19, when the state greatly expanded its ability to test for coronavirus.
Coronavirus has now been reported in 67 of the state’s 83 counties.
Michigan now ranks fourth in number of coronavirus cases
Michigan has experienced one of the fastest increases in coronavirus cases in recent days. Only New York, New Jersey and California have more cases of COVID-19 as of Tuesday, March 31.
There have been 259 deaths in two weeks.
Michigan reported its first death from coronavirus on March 18. By March 31, 259 deaths in 19 counties had been reported. That’s about 3.4% of the confirmed cases.
The ages of those who have died range from 25 to 107. The median age was 71.
The state does not have data on the number or percentage of coronavirus patients who have been hospitalized.
More then eight of 10 coronavirus cases are in metro Detroit.
More than a quarter of coronavirus patients so far live in the city of Detroit, and 81% live in Wayne, Oakland or Macomb counties. And 228 of the 259 deaths -- 88% -- involve metro Detroit residents.
About 39% of Michigan residents live in the tri-county region.
Experts attribute the numbers in metro Detroit to three factors: It’s the most populated area of the state; the most densely populated, and the region where testing for the disease has been the most aggressive.
Six of 10 confirmed cases in Michigan involve people under 60.
People age 60 and older are at higher risk of complications from coronavirus, and it appears children tend to have a very mild form of the disease.
Still, 58% of Michigan residents with coronavirus are between the ages of 20 to 59.
About two-thirds of those who have died have been men
Women are slightly more likely to have been diagnosed with coronavirus, but 68% of those who have died in Michigan from the virus have been men.
The number tested has more than doubled in the past week.
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.
Number who have recovered
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 symptom 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.