Detroit wants more COVID-19 tests done - even for those not showing symptoms

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Reducing the curve of COVID-19 illness is what Detroit's medical and government officials have been looking to report for weeks.

"We have hit a plateau, I looked at the data from the hospitals on occupied beds from Saturday and Sunday and it's virtually the same," Duggan said. "We went up fast and are starting to come down."

 
Duggan believes a key factor in the flattening of the curve is Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's extension of the Stay at Home Order. But the virus is still spreading. 

"What we have to do is start testing people who do not have symptoms," he said.
 
That initiative started Monday at the State Fair Grounds to test without a script and without symptoms. So far the response extends far beyond those working in the food service industry.
 
"We have had 140 companies sign up, we have day care centers and doctors’ offices," Duggan said. "The one that surprised me the most was that the US Postal Service signed up."

The city also is focusing its efforts on nursing homes where the virus has spread rapidly among a vulnerable population. Help is on the way.
 
"The head of Centers for Disease Control has just sent us four staff members to join (our) health department to help with nursing home initiative," he said.
 
The mayor is even talking about getting his own test.

"I've got tested the first couple of days when the AVID test first came in, as did everyone on the 11th floor," he said. "They all came back negative and we have been wearing our masks ever sense."
 
But the city's effort during this crisis reach beyond the medical front as officials work to help Detroiters establish bank account so they can get their $1,200 stimulus checks faster.
 
There is a list of seven banks that include First Independence that will help Detroiters get their stimulus payments as a direct deposit.