By Bill Badour and Kelvin Butler
UNIVERSITY CENTER – As the coronavirus pandemic ravages the world and the United States alike, Michigan has been among the most infected states. Michigan is currently the state with the fifth most confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, at 4,650 confirmed cases. As of March 28, there were 31 confirmed cases of COVID-19 between Bay, Saginaw and Midland counties.
Bay County
The first confirmed Coronavirus case in the Mid-Michigan area was reported on March 13 in Bay County. The individual who tested positive was Dr. Mark Pankonin, a gastroenterologist who works at Covenant HealthCare in Saginaw but resides in Bay County. Pankonin tested positive after attending a skiing vacation in Utah.
The second confirmed case of COVID-19 in Bay County was announced on Monday, March 23. The patient is Alexis M. Lopez, a 22-year-old woman. Lopez has made a 10 minute video recalling her experience battling the virus.
On Wednesday, March 25, Michigan’s Department of Health and Human Services reported that an additional case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Bay County. The individual was not identified, but we know that the patient was an adult male.
The fourth case of COVID-19 in Bay County was confirmed on Thursday, March 27. The individual was identified as an adult woman.
Related story: Bay County COVID-19 cases now at four
One reason that Bay County is particularly crucial in its fight against the Coronavirus is because 20% of its residents are over 65.
Midland County
In Midland County, the first Coronavirus case was confirmed on Thursday, March 19. The individual who tested positive is a woman with a history of international travel.
On Friday, March 20, two additional cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Midland County. Midland Public Health director Fred Yanoski stated that “the two new cases do not appear to have any link to the first case.”
Yanoski continued: “They are different people from different parts of the community. It indicates there is disease in the community.”
This certainly turned out to be true as over the next week, the total number of cases in Midland doubled. As of March 28, there were eight confirmed cases of COVID-19.
Saginaw County
The Saginaw County Health Department released the latest numbers after the county had done 205 COVID-19 tests.
Ten patients tested positive for COVID-19 and 64 results came back negative; the other 131 test results are still pending.
With this rise in cases, Saginaw County has declared a state of emergency for the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We don’t want citizens to react to the emergency declaration with panic,” county board of commissioners chairman Michael Webster told ABC12 News. “We are Saginaw strong and we will come out the other side of this crisis even stronger.”
With the virus not yet at its peak, it will get worse before it gets better.