Updates About COVID-19

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) is launching a Test to Treat program at thirteen locations across the state. These sites will offer no-cost COVID-19 testing and oral medications in an effort to reduce hospitalizations and support faster recoveries, as well as on-site telehealth services for those that are positive for COVID-19.

Specific criteria were used in selecting communities offering telehealth services. Communities with a High Social Vulnerability Index, a high percentage of people over the age of fifty having tested at the site, limited access to health care sites outside of emergency departments, and high testing rates were considered when identifying the neighborhood sites.

Michigan is the first state nationwide to implement this federal initiative at neighborhood testing sites. Locations can be found here.

On Tuesday, August 9, Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced she tested positive for COVID-19 – the Governor’s first known infection. Whitmer is vaccinated and twice boosted. She reported mild symptoms.

Two days before the positive result, Whitmer attended a campaign rally in Benton Harbor where approximately 300 people were in attendance.

Following approval by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice (ACIP), the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) announced that all Michigan children 6 months and older are now eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

MDHHS reports that more than 500,000 children under the age of 5 are now eligible to receive the vaccine, which can be accessed from a primary care provider, local health department, or federally qualified health center. Not all pharmacies will vaccinate children 3 and up.

As of June 15, there have been more than 427,000 confirmed COVID cases in those 19 years and younger. A total of 44 deaths have been reported in ages 0 to 19.