Michigan Health Watch

As Michigan cases spike, health officials in Kent, Calhoun and Ottawa counties say they need more personnel to quickly contact infected individuals to help limit the spread of the coronavirus. And too often, the people they do reach won’t cooperate.

Two of the state’s largest health care systems bumped minimum wages to $15 an hour amid competition for entry-level workers. Nursing home employees in 14 southeast Michigan nursing homes also are on their way to pay increases.

Tourists flooded onto the iconic Michigan landmark during the second half of the summer. Somehow, the island escaped large COVID-19 outbreaks. That has now changed.

Beaumont Health and Henry Ford Health System, two of the state’s largest nonprofit systems, awarded executive bonuses in March, as the pandemic descended on the state. They then laid off thousands and accepted more than $700 million in U.S. taxpayer funds.

In a study of people who suffered severe to minimal symptoms, there were significant levels of fatigue, shortness of breath and stress. Researchers at the University of Michigan will continue to examine the ongoing toll in the state.

In old paint, water pipes and the ground, lead can leave a child with a lifetime of learning problems and mental health issues. But during the pandemic, the number of children being tested for poisoning has been cut in half.

As cases surge to levels unseen in months, the virus is spreading fast in corners of Michigan that had been mostly spared. Experts blame ‘pandemic fatigue’ but the good news is deaths remain relatively low.

Cases of the new coronavirus are increasing across all Michigan regions, with hospitalizations doubling since late September. Residents are urged to stick with restrictions as flu season begins despite “pandemic fatigue.”

A Michigan infectious disease doctor says we’ve overdone coronavirus lockdown rules, an argument embraced by Republican Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey. The medical establishment calls such views dangerous.