Dr. Joel Fishbain, an infectious disease specialist with Beaumont, Grosse Pointe, joins the show today and tells us about what’s happening on the front lines of the battle against the coronavirus. Fishbain tells Daily Detroit that he was initially among those who thought this was simply a version of the common flu. But now he’s seeing alarming numbers of people in their 40s and 50s who have to go on ventilators — as well as a phenomenon he called “robust diarrhea.”
Beaumont has reported 333 confirmed cases in inpatients with COVID-19 across the hospital system as of Tuesday, while the number nearly doubled since Monday to 170 at Henry Ford Health System’s five Detroit-area hospitals. Statewide, the tally is now 1,791 confirmed cases, up 35% in a day, and 24 deaths. Both Jer and I now count ourselves among those who know someone who died of coronavirus. This is real, friends. Take it seriously.
In non-apocalyptic news, Attorney General Dana Nessel has filed criminal corruption charges against Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith and three others, alleging they helped embezzle an estimated $600,000 of county funds and shielded it from county oversight. It’s an extraordinary development in Michigan’s third most-populous county, which has had many issues of late with public corruption among elected officials.
To ensure that not everything on today’s show is depressing, we have some fun reading listener feedback about my recent poor audio from my basement office. We’re trying to set a positive example and practice social distancing podcasting, see. And we’ve got it fixed!
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