Testing criteria has changed. So have the options. But which test is most reliable? Bridge has sorted out answers to some frequently asked questions.
Robin Erb
Robin Erb covers a range of health issues in Michigan, including the industry of aging and the issues facing older residents in Michigan, a state that is aging faster than most others. She joined Bridge in 2019 and has led investigations that tracked millions of dollars in opioid settlement money and explored severe worker shortages in health care that threaten lives and the state's economy. She chronicled the shock and grief of Michigan families in COVID’s wake, as well as state policy decisions and the triumphs of medical breakthroughs. Robin previously spent six years covering health at the Detroit Free Press, documenting the battle over, and the eventual passage of, the Affordable Care Act and Michigan's Medicaid expansion. She studied communications and political science at Miami University and has a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Lourdes University (Toledo, Ohio). She and her husband raised two wonderful children — but have failed miserably at training their Beagle-Bassets — in southeast Michigan. Reach her at rerb@bridgemi.com.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
A Michigan guide to wearing masks, or not, during coronavirus
Do masks work? Do disability or medical privacy laws allow me to enter a store without one? Michigan researchers, doctors and a lawyer weigh in on the much-debated mask mandate.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Violence erupts in Michigan over state mask mandate ‘powder keg’
Tensions are boiling over as confrontations increase over Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s mask rule designed to contain COVID-19 becomes “the number one anxiety-producing pain point for retailers right now.”
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Across Michigan, coronavirus contact tracers face lies, anger and silence
Disheartened by images of raucous crowds ignoring safety measures, some health officials wonder if contact tracing — long a trusted tactic in controlling infectious diseases — may be losing its usefulness.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan’s newest headache: Young adults are driving coronavirus growth
Industries that serve the vulnerable see risky behaviors among young workers, but say they’re limited on what they can do.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Computer pad can help Michigan seniors use telehealth during coronavirus
Metro Detroit seniors are embracing online doctor visits using a customized tablet that makes technology less intimidating. It could prove a model for seniors increasingly dependent on telehealth to visit doctors.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan study: Hydroxychloroquine saved lives among coronavirus patients
The drug’s effects had been called into question after a series of studies and controversies since it was promoted by President Trump. A study at Henry Ford Health System found lower death rates when the drug is given early.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Large jump in Michigan deaths outside hospitals as coronavirus raged
Fear of contracting the virus at hospitals appears to have kept many patients from seeking care, including a large number of people suffering strokes or heart attacks.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan hospitals hardest hit by coronavirus get $850M, say they need more
Even with federal relief funds intended for providers slammed by COVID-19 patients, some hospitals say they are still shedding jobs to balance their books during the outbreak.
Posted inMichigan Government
As coronavirus cases rise, Whitmer halts plans to further reopen Michigan
Public health experts say they expected coronavirus cases to rise as Michigan’s businesses reopened but say they worry about COVID fatigue leading to more cases.