Twenty-four hospitals in Michigan hit 90 percent patient capacity or higher April 14, Joneigh Khaldun, MD, emergency physician and chief medical executive of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, told ABC affiliate WJRT.
COVID-19 patients occupied almost 18 percent of all inpatient hospital beds statewide April 14. Across Michigan, 4,187 patients were hospitalized with confirmed or probable COVID-19 April 14, down 18 from the day prior.
"Patients are again lining our hallways like they were last spring," said Dr. Khaldun. "We need to be using every tool in our toolbox, right now to get these cases and hospitalizations down."
Southfield, Mich.-based Beaumont Health's Metro Detroit hospitals and staff have hit critical capacity levels, officials told NBC affiliate WDIV-TV April 15. Beaumont hospitals are currently treating more than 800 COVID-19 patients, exceeding the volume of patients seen during the state's fall virus surge. The health system has reinstated visitor restrictions, with no visitors allowed for COVID-19 patients. At some Beaumont hospitals, the system has set up triage units and tents outside to manage the stress on its emergency rooms, reports the Detroit Free Press.
Michigan currently has a weekly case rate of 515.8 per 100,000 people — the worst in the nation, according to the CDC. Experts attribute much of the surge to high levels of variant strains of virus in the state and increasing spread among younger unvaccinated people.