Though the daily tally of plague deaths continues, with another 55 recorded in Michigan since Friday, a different number reflects progress after more than two months of crisis.
Over 28,000 people have recovered from Covid diagnoses, says a weekly state update. The figure rose 24% since May 8.
The all-clear status now applies to 56% of confirmed virus cases since mid-March.
Lansing health officials define recovered as surviving at least 30 days since testing as Covid-infected, so the new total of 28,234 consists of patients diagnosed April 15 or earlier.
The Department of Health and Human Services also posts these daily updates Saturday afternoon: 50,504 cumulative cases (including recoveries) and 4,880 deaths since March 17.
Michigan ranks seventh nationally in cases and fourth in fatalities behind New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts. Wayne County has the fifth-highest death toll (2,212) among U.S. counties.
The governor on Friday: "It's so easy to look past this loss." (Photo: State of Michigan)
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer frames the toll vividly, as quoted by Michigan Advance:
"Imagine you're on the stage of Detroit’s Fox Theatre … and you're looking out towards the audience. Every empty seat in the theater represents a life lost to Covid-19.
"It's so easy to look past this loss if it hasn't hit close to home."
The Woodward Avenue theater has 4,665 seats – 215 fewer than the state's pandemic death toll so far.
On the more encouraging side, here are Coivid patient discharges from two Metro Detroit hospital networks:
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Beaumont Health: 3,000 since March 1
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Henry Ford Health System: 1,951 since March 16
