This roundup supplements our pandemic news coverage, including articles on Monday's "stay home" directive, Detroit losses from casino closures and the proposed end of public school terms statewide.
♦ Updates, Tuesday morning:
Detroit is up to 551 confirmed cases and eight deaths, Detroit's health director announced in a remote city council session. That's up from 414 cases Monday.
A 9-1-1 call center operator with the Detroit Police Department is among the dead.
Also, from comments on WDET's "Detroit Today" show:
.@GovWhitmer says @BeaumontHealth is near capacity right now, and we’re not yet at the worst of this situation. #DetroitToday @wdet
— Stephen Henderson (@SHDetroit) March 24, 2020
► Increase in cases: The state's latest daily update lists 293 new cases of COVID-19, the lung infection caused by coronavirus. That brings the cumulative number to 1,328, which includes self-quarantined patients and some early victims who've largely recovered.
The reported Michigan death toll is 15, up from nine Sunday night.
Among diagnosed cases added Monday are 86 in Detroit, 75 in western Wayne, 52 in Oakland and 35 in Macomb.
Detroit's total number of cases is 411 now, while the rest of the three-county area has a combined total of 731 confirmed patients.
This state reportedly ranks seventh nationally in pandemic deaths and fifth in the number of reported patients.
► Troopers needed? Detroit may request Michigan State Police help with street patrols and emergency runs because a high number of Detroit officers could have to self-quarantine, Chief James Craig says, according to WXYZ.
[He said] Monday afternoon there are now 283 officers in quarantine and nine who have tested positive for the virus.
A sign of the times at the market Saturday. (Photo: Nancy Derringer)
► Drive-up produce in Detroit: Eastern Market tests a fresh approach Tuesday -- drive-up curb service. Details still are being developed for the health-safety approach to produce shopping, which is allowed under the governor's new "stay home" rules. Crain's Detroit Business speaks with Dan Carmody, president of a nonprofit managing the marketplace:
Customers buying produce and other essentials should be able to drive up, fill out a form and pay once for goods from a variety of vendors, said Carmody of Eastern Market Partnership. "Staff will put product in their trunk. Nobody has to get out of their car."
Eastern Market's Saturday markets run year-round, but its scaled-down Tuesday iteration usually takes place June to September.
► Hospital needs stuff: Here's a vivid sign of where we're at in the fourth week of March 2020. "As the number of COVID-19 patients continues to climb, Beaumont Health is now accepting certain medical supplies and donations," the eight-hospital group posts on its site and social media. It lists 10 categories of personal protective gear needed.
Beaumont will accept donations of items listed at the Beaumont Service Center, 26901 Beaumont Blvd, in Southfield. ... Donation bins will be located outside the main entrance through Saturday, March 28. Community members will be able to drive up and place needed supplies and materials in the bins from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
It doesn't want home-sewn masks, medication, food or blankets -- though an ominous note adds: "These kinds of items might be needed later."
► 'Playbook' for execs: As Michigan corporate leaders adapt on the fly to uncertainty and fear, lessons learned by business executives overseas in recent weeks are compiled in what Crain's calls a "crisis playbook."
Some Michigan business leaders had been wrestling with the coronavirus and its wide-reaching effects on commerce, global supply chains and the health and welfare of workers in their overseas operations for two months before the respiratory disease was detected in Michigan's population.
And now those companies ... are sharing their experiences with other Michigan companies.
New resource site from Business Leaders for Michigan.
Chad Livengood reports that DTE Energy's executive chairman, Gerry Anderson, last week began "a daily conference call with top executives at Lear, General Motors Co., Steelcase, Herman Miller, Stryker, Barton Malow, Dow Chemical, Quicken Loans, Meijer and others to pull together best practices and strategies for being both reactive and proactive to the upheaval this virus is having on workforces and the economy."
Anderson has been leading the effort through his role as chairman of Business Leaders for Michigan. ...
BLM has launched a new website, BLMCovid19.com, and published best practices, links to state and federal resources as well as the COVID-19 company policies and procedures for one unnamed "international manufacturer" that other companies can use for guidance.
► Virtual auctions: The venerable DuMouchelle's Art Gallery on East Jefferson in dowmntown is shut, naturally, and has migrated to online live auctions. More than 1,200 lots of art, silverware, furniture and collectibles were up for grabs by digital and phone bidders Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
► Restaurant heavyweights join curbside to-go: High-profile chef Brad Greenhill (Takoi, Magnet) has emerged in recent days as a spokesman for the restaurant industry. This week, his restaurants jump into the curbside go-box game. Starting Tuesday (March 24), a selection of menu items from both restaurants will be available for pickup at Takoi.
Restrictions apply: Orders will only be taken online, and must be in by 3 p.m. for same-day pickup. Other details are on the Takoi website. If anyone was wondering, yes, there's even a wine list.
