Detroit-area hospitals seeing ‘tsunami’ of coronavirus cases in national hot spot - MLive.com

U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams on Friday labeled Detroit as a “hot spot” for the coronavirus pandemic and said the situation there will worsen in the next week.

For those on the front lines of the crisis, reaching this point has been an unfortunate expectation.

“I have been saying all along as an epidemiologist that we are going to see a big tsunami,” said Dr. Teena Chopra, an infectious diseases specialist for Detroit Medical Center. “This is going to explode. We are seeing the surge. The growth rate is 100 percent. We are doubling every day.”

The surgeon general’s label came on a day that the state reported 801 new cases of COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, and 32 additional deaths. Updated numbers on Saturday, March 28, saw the state add 993 new cases. Adams included Chicago and New Orleans as cities that “will have a worse week next week.”

Detroit is now recording new cases at a faster rate than New York, the U.S. epicenter of the virus, Chopra said. Both the total number of cases in the city, 1,381 as of Saturday, and the high growth rate are equally alarming, along with the mortality rate. The city has reported 31 deaths since the outbreak.

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Detroit reaching this point is a result of a host of factors that make the city’s population high-risk, including poverty and a high prevalence of conditions like diabetes, hypertension, smoking and COPD, Chopra said.

Reducing the rate of infection, Chopra said, will take increased resources for hospitals, including staffing, beds, ventilators and personal protection equipment.

If those resources can be obtained, and if residents continue social distancing efforts, then the peak of the virus for the city could be on the horizon.

“With all of those then we will peak by May, and after May we will see the curve taking a direction for the better,” Chopra said.

And if the city can’t get those resources?

“Then it will keep going on,” Chopra said. “The curve won’t flatten for a long time. It’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better.”

No matter the timeline, though, hospitals will continue to deal with an onslaught of coronavirus cases in the coming weeks. Several in the region report already being near capacity, and officials working to transfer patients to facilities in other parts of the state. Chopra said there have also been discussions about setting up makeshift health facilities, as has been done in other parts of the country.

Even if beds can be found for patients, Chopra said the hospital system could still have issues with staffing, particularly if healthcare workers contract the disease and are unable to provide care.

“I think a very important thing is to first make sure you’re safe when you’re taking care of your community,” Chopra said. “You want to be safe first and then you can take care of your community.”

Chopra likened the current emergency room situations in Metro Detroit to “war zones”.

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“There is a constant fight to be able to triage these patients, be able to find beds for them, be able to discharge some others who are stable to go home, be able to provide critical access to some of them,” Chopra said.

For those not in the hospitals every day treating patients, Chopra said there’s a simple way to help.

“Pray,” Chopra said. “Pray for the world at this point and stay at home, because we want everybody to be safe. Call before you come to the (hospital), if you are sick. Those are the few things that I would tell everybody who is home.”

Read all of MLive’s coverage on the coronavirus at mlive.com/coronavirus.

Additional information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus.

CORONAVIRUS PREVENTION TIPS

In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus. Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible. Carry hand sanitizer with you, and use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home ( door handles, faucets, countertops ) and when you go into places like stores.