Coronavirus live updates, March 29: Detroit is new hotspot for fast-spreading cases

Mar. 29--Here's the latest news on the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the Detroit area and around Michigan.

What you need to know

-- Coronavirus: Map of Michigan cases to date

-- Coronavirus symptoms to look for, how to get help

-- Where to get free food in metro Detroit

-- Mental health: How to cope during the coronavirus crisis

-- How you can help others

-- Here's who is hiring

Michigan's coronavirus case count doubles every 3 days

Sick people fill intensive care units of already overtaxed southeastern Michigan hospitals at a pace of about 100 new coronavirus patients a day.

So far, 111 Michiganders have died, and at least 4,650 had confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of Saturday afternoon, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services.

How widespread the virus really is, and how many people have contracted it, but don't have confirmation through testing, remains unknown.

What we do know is that the official coronavirus case count is currently doubling about every three days in Michigan.

At this rate, Michigan could reach 10,000 cases on Wednesday, and surpass 25,000 on Sunday, if the growth rate doesn't slow, and the state is able to test enough people accurately to assess the caseload.

All indications suggest Detroit is a new hotspot for a fast-spreading coronavirus that was first discovered in December in China and spread like wildfire around the world. The United States now has more confirmed cases than anywhere else globally -- more than 120,000 -- and more than 2,000 deaths.

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Michigan coronavirus cases climbs to 5,486, death toll reaches 132

The number of Michiganders affected by coronavirus continues to rise.

As of Sunday, 21 more people have died of the novel coronavirus, for a total of 132 deaths in Michigan thus far, according to data from the state.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has confirmed 5,486 total cases, 836 recorded in the last day.

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Michiganders perform essential roles during coronavirus outbreak

Life is different now in so many ways. The coronavirus and the attempts to stop its spread have meant a reordering of our daily existence. Concerns about loved ones, especially those we believe are most vulnerable to the disease's effects, dominate our quiet moments. Many of us work from home while trying to play substitute teacher. Others watch their livelihoods vanish, and wonder how the rent or the mortgage will get paid. Some of us are on the front lines of this battle, medical professionals in the thick of the fighting every day. This is a time when health-care workers are called on to become warriors. And in the midst of it, many of our neighbors are also putting themselves at risk. Here are a few of the stories of essential workers who keep life going for the masses of Michiganders staying home.

? Read their stores

Two more Fiat Chrysler workers die after COVID-19 diagnosis

Two more Fiat Chrysler workers diagnosed with COVID-19 have died, UAW officials confirmed Sunday, bringing the FCA total to seven publicly confirmed cases since coronavirus hit Michigan.

The latest deaths involved workers based at Warren Truck and MOPAR distribution center in Center Line, said Brian Rothenberg, spokesman for the labor union.

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WMU student, Detroit native dies from coronavirus weeks short of graduation

A Western Michigan University student has died from coronavirus just weeks before he was set to graduate, the school confirmed Sunday.

Bassey Offiong was set to graduate this spring with a degree in chemical engineering. It's unclear when he died.

The Kalamazoo County health department also confirmed the death.

According to Offiong's Facebook page, he was from Detroit and graduated from Renaissance High School.

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Coronavirus cases in Michigan prisons more than double since Friday

The number of coronavirus cases in Michigan prisons spiked over the weekend to at least 58, plus one parolee, with four Michigan prisons emerging as hot spots.

The Michigan Department of Corrections reported 20 positive prisoner tests for COVID-19 at Parnall Correctional Facility near Jackson, 16 at Macomb Correctional Facility in Lenox Township, and seven each at Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility near Ypsilanti and Lakeland Correctional Facility in Coldwater, which has a geriatric unit.

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Gov. Whitmer: Michigan grateful for federal help, but state needs much more

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer worked to tamp down conflicts with the federal government on coronavirus when she appeared on national TV Sunday morning, saying Michigan is grateful for the federal help it has received, but needs much more.

"I don't have the energy to respond to every slight," Whitmer said when Jake Tapper, host of "State of the Union" on CNN, asked her to respond to a video clip. In the clip from a Friday briefing, President Donald Trump said he has told Vice President Mike Pence, who is in charge of the federal coronavirus response, not to call "that woman in Michigan," meaning her, because she has not expressed appreciation about federal efforts.

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Coronavirus comparisons to World War II are rampant. Are we ready to be greatest generation?

There it was. That urge to compare a terrible now with no end in sight, to a horrible then that resulted in victory.

"I think this is our Dunkirk moment as a country. Now is the time to step up and help," said Tufts University president Anthony Monaco in a news story on the coronavirus, equating the challenges of the current moment to the epic World War II rescue of Allied soldiers trapped on the French coast by British civilians with boats.

But after two weeks of social distancing and staying home as the new normal, 2020 America is gravitating to World War II as the go-to comparison for the current battle against a deadly germ.

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A visit with mom from behind glass turns into the 'best' moment in her life

Mid-morning Saturday, I stood on the nursing home's back porch sheltered from the drizzling rain.

I felt giddy, with a mild adrenaline rush that sometimes accompanies going rogue.

Minutes earlier, driving through the small town of Northville, I'd called the nurse's cell phone, "Can I stop by and just wave to my mom through the glass ... maybe talk to her on your cell, if that's okay?"

These days, that's a bold request. Since Monday, Michigan has been on a shelter-at-home order as cases of the coronavirus proliferate. I did not leave my house all week, hence the much-needed trip to get groceries with the nursing home nearby.

But that nursing home where my 90-year-old mother, Marcella, has lived for three years shut down all visitation about three weeks ago.

? Read reporter Jamie L. LaReau story

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