A spike of virus cases among homeless people helps push Kent County’s daily coronavirus cases to levels equal to those seen in metro Detroit. Officials in the west Michigan county say a peak could be three weeks away.
Mike Wilkinson
Mike has been a reporter for Bridge Michigan since 2013 and focuses on data-assisted reporting, often finding stories by analyzing maps and data sets and has created Bridge's dashboards on COVID-19, the state's economy and Michigan's elections. He held similar positions at The Detroit News and The Blade of Toledo. A native of Michigan, Mike grew up in Macomb County, graduated from the University of Michigan and started his reporting career in New Baltimore before his career took him to Illinois, Tennessee and Ohio. You can reach him at mwilkinson@bridgemi.com
Posted inTalent & Education
Education is a fundamental right, appeals court rules in Detroit case
A group of Detroit students asked: Is there a constitutional right to literacy? A United States appeals court says yes.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan may be past coronavirus peak, but cases grow outstate
The coronavirus is moving across the state at different rates, relaxing its grip on metro Detroit but infections are still rising in parts of the state as Gov. Gretchen Whitmer eyes the reopening of the economy.
Posted inMichigan Government
Michigan Legislature won’t extend Whitmer’s stay-home order, Shirkey says
Senate majority leader says, unlike other states, Michigan won’t extend its stay-home order after April 30. But Mike Shirkey says plenty of restrictions are likely even after the order expires.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Back to work, but not to normal: life in Michigan when coronavirus ebbs
You can go to work, but prepare to have your temperature taken at the door. You can visit your family, but not the bar. Baseball season may never start. A peek into your future when Michigan’s stay-home order ends.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan has highest U.S. coronavirus death rate, ranks low in testing
One month into the pandemic, charts tell a disturbing story: Deaths comprise 6 percent of all COVID-19 cases, while the state has the lowest per-capita rate of testing in the nation.
Posted inMichigan Government
GOP, merchants upset Michigan’s stay-home order is tougher than other states
Michigan’s coronavirus caseload is beginning to slow, prompting some to question Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s expanded stay-home order. She and doctors say vigilance is necessary or infections will spike.
Posted inUrban Affairs
‘We need help’: Coronavirus ‘devastating’ black cities in outstate Michigan
Racial disparities that struck southeast Michigan are repeating in Flint, Saginaw, Lansing and Ypsilanti, highlighting inequities in health care. And even as Detroit cases ebb, the mourning is just beginning: ‘I just feel numb,’ one says.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Despite brutal day, signs of hope in Michigan’s coronavirus curve
COVID-19 cases spiked yet again statewide on Tuesday, but Detroit’s rate is beginning to slow — and Michigan’s curve is looking less like that of New York by the day.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan third in nation for coronavirus, last for data about patients
Unlike other states, Michigan doesn’t release information about coronavirus recoveries, patients on ventilators or in intensive care. Michigan is tied with six other states in releasing the least data, according to the COVID Tracking Project.