Duggan shares dropping COVID-19 numbers in Detroit, still urges caution

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Encouraging numbers from the city of Detroit Friday with nine COVID-19 deaths in 24 hours - the lowest number the city has seen in quite a while.

"The numbers are coming down extremely fast," said Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan. "We've brought this down at a rate probably faster than any city in the country."

Mayor Duggan shares good news of dropping COVID-19 numbers in Detroit but urges caution

With a warmer weekend ahead, Mayor Mike Duggan is urging everyone to continue to practice social distancing and wearing masks in public.

 
But with a warmer weekend ahead, Duggan is urging everyone to continue to practice social distancing and wearing masks in public.
 
"All of the good news that you see on that slide will be undone in a hurry, if people go out in the parks and neighborhoods and gather in large groups," he said.
 
Duggan says the city, while continuing to ramp up testing - is still incredibly concerned about the number of senior citizens becoming infected.

"Before this is over, we are going to find that a quarter to a third of all the deaths in the city, occurred at nursing homes," he said.
 
The city is testing patients at all 26 nursing homes and preparing to test everyone at 37 long-term care facilities by May 15th. The latest testing is now showing nursing home patients make up 24 percent of those infected.
 
"My heart always grieves for those families that are experiencing loss," said Denise Fair, chief public health officer.

But Duggan once again stressed Friday that the number of cases and deaths are continuing to slow down because of Detroiters committing to the governor's stay-at-home order.

"It will go up faster than any city in the country, if we abandon that commitment," he said.
 
More than 1,000 members of the Detroit Police Department are now back at work and that means more cops on the streets to patrol parks and neighborhoods.

"We're prepared to act because we are not going to let this trend get reversed," he said.

 
Duggan says Detroit police issued 19 citations for group gatherings Thursday for the lowest number in weeks. The mayor says he hopes Detroiters will continue to patrol their neighbors, asking everyone - if you see large gatherings - or groups of people not practicing social distancing, call the police.

"You can be pretty sure a police car is going to be there in a matter of a few minutes," Duggan said.