(WXYZ) — Governor Gretchen Whitmer provided an update on the state's response to COVID-19 Wednesday afternoon.
Whitmer announced the COVID-19 vaccination distribution date and those who will be eligible.
Starting January 11, Michiganders age 65 and older police officers, first responders, frontline state workers, and federal workers, jail and prison staff and PreK-12 teachers and childcare providers will be able to get vaccinated.
On Wednesday,508,736 total cases of COVID-19 and 12,918 total deaths were reported in Michigan.
That's up 4,326 cases and 51 deaths from the day before.
Cases have dropped for the sixth week in a row; the current daily case rate remains more than two times the rate from early October.
However, officials said the state is not expecting to see the continued decline that we have seen in recent weeks.
The state also reports that Michigan is showing continued decline in hospitalizations, but a slight rise in case numbers. The percent positivity rate reached a low of 8.2% on Dec. 27, 2020, but increased to 9.6% in its most recent seven-day average.
Last week, Dr. Khaldun reported that Michigan's COVID-19 case numbers continue to go down, but are higher than they were a few months ago. On Monday, Michigan surpassed 500,000 cases since the first case of COVID-19 was reported in March 2020.
As of Dec. 30, 363,611 people have recovered from the virus, according to MDHHS.
More than 337,000 vaccines have been distributed throughout the state, and more than 86,626 vaccines have been administered to Michiganders so far.
Whitmer released a statement Monday calling on the federal government for help at the state level.
“We still need our leaders in Washington to pass a relief bill that includes federal funding for states to fund crucial services like police and fire, emergency responders, Medicaid, higher education, and more. These services could face cuts without help from the federal government," she said in a press release.
She also urged Michiganders to continue practicing COVID-19 safety guidelines to keep one another safe as vaccinations are being distributed.
“COVID-19 didn’t end with the new year. There is still more work to do to beat this virus, but I know that Michiganders are up to the challenge. Let’s harness our Michigan grit and eliminate this virus once and for all,” she said.
Additional Coronavirus information and resources:
View a global coronavirus tracker with data from Johns Hopkins University.
See complete coverage on our Coronavirus Continuing Coverage page.
Visit our The Rebound Detroit, a place where we are working to help people impacted financially from the coronavirus. We have all the information on everything available to help you through this crisis and how to access it.