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Covid-19 heat map relecting cases as of May 1. (Source: Michigan.gov)
Outstate Republicans have argued for an easing of Governor Gretchen Whitmer's coronavirus restrictions, saying it's unfair to hinder economic activity with a one-size-fits-all approach in places that have barely any cases.
But Covid-19 cases are on the upswing in many rural parts of Michigan as cases fall in metro Detroit, where the state's first two patients were confirmed March 10.
The case counts are still relatively low in outstate counties, but the growth is exponential in some. That could spell trouble ahead, with rural hospitals ill-equipped to handle an onslaught of patients and the state already beginning to reopen some sectors of its economy.
Metro Times analyzed Covid-19 growth across the state:
Ten days ago, 81% of the coronavirus cases were in Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne counties. That dropped Thursday to 71% as a new wave of infections is reaching every corner of the state.
Of the state’s 80 counties outside of metro Detroit, 75 have confirmed infections and 31 have at least 50 positive cases.
Most strikingly, at least 24 of those counties reported a higher rate of increase in new cases over the past 10 days than the tri-county area that makes up metro Detroit, according to a Metro Times analysis. During that period, metro Detroit’s new COVID-19 cases increased 17.6%.
By contrast, in Iosco County, where 25,000 residents live, the number of new cases more than tripled in the past 10 days, from 15 to 52. In Ionia, a sparsely populated county between Lansing and Grand Rapids, the number of confirmed new infections nearly tripled, from 26 to 76. And in Alpena County in the northern Lower Peninsula, new cases more than doubled, from 35 to 82.
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