Michigan moves coronavirus reporting to 2 p.m., will break down by county

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (FOX 2) - As the State of Michigan continues to come to grips with the evolving Coronavirus crisis, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) will start reporting numbers earlier in the day plus provide new details about the cases.

State officials announced that starting March 17, they will begin reporting Coronavirus/COVID-19 cases at 2 p.m. Additionally, they will start providing statewide numbers for the cases broken down by county, age ranges, and gender.

RELATED: Track Michigan coronavirus cases by county with this interactive map

The afternoon update will include all the information reported through midnight the previous day.

“It is important to provide the public with accurate data regarding this outbreak,” said Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, chief medical executive and chief deputy for health. “As the number of people tested has drastically increased in recent days, our team has transitioned the way it prioritizes and reports testing.” 

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Health care providers, local health departments or others may publicly announce cases or deaths before they are included in the statewide count. Local public health departments are a great source of information and may report more details on specific cases than the state.

In order to provide case counts as quickly and efficiently as possible, the department has also stopped reporting some of the numbers available online earlier in the outbreak. MDHHS will no longer report the number of persons under investigation, tests pending, referred for assessment and/or monitoring to date and total assessment and/or monitoring referrals under active monitoring.

RELATED: Track the spread of COVID-19 with our interactive map