When Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer imposed a statewide stay-at-home mandate on March 23, she said it was done “so our health system has a fighting chance.”
The state’s average hospital occupancy rate was at 62.2% as of Aug. 17, which is lower than it in some non-epidemic years. That’s according to a tracking survey of hospitals by the state of Michigan. There were 653 COVID-19 patients hospitalized as of Aug. 17. By comparison, there were 3,357 people hospitalized with the coronavirus on April 20.
Michigan’s bed occupancy rates, on average, were 66% in 1990 and 2010 and 65% in 2000 and 2015, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.