×
Register an Account
Forgot Login?
Livonia's 12 percent coronavirus fatality rate, explained
Apr 11, 2020

On Wednesday,  Livonia had a total 340 positive coronavirus cases and 42 deaths. That's a fatality rate of 12%. It's previously hovered around 9% and 10%.

In Dearborn, which is similar in size to Livonia, it's 5%. In Westland, it's 6%. And in Redford, it's 4%. 

So what's up with Livonia?

"It isn't really the number of people, it's the age of the people," said Livonia Mayor Maureen Miller Brosnan. 

Class of 2020: Livonia seeks special ways to honor graduates as coronavirus forces online finish

Spree canceled: Communities grapple with summer festival plans during coronavirus

Serving abroad: Navy Seabee from Westland helping fight coronavirus in Spain

About 94,000 people live in Livonia, and more than 40% of those people are over the age of 55. On top of that, Livonia has 15 long-term care facilities as well as a number of senior living facilities, memory care facilities and occupational therapy facilities where, according to Brosnan, more than 3,000 people are cared for. 

"Our emergency operations team, our firefighters, our police officers are making more runs on a regular basis, on a daily basis, to those types of facilities," she said. "We've seen those numbers increase as proof that, again, we just have an aging population. That's what's driving this."

Brosnan said the city's spread could also be linked to a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) in those facilities. 

"The people who are managing the care of our senior residents in those skilled nursing centers don't have nearly enough of the personal protective equipment that they need," she said. "What that does, unfortunately, is that means the people who are working there are exposed and then they're going home."

Wayne County hasn't given city officials the location of each COVID-19 case and has just started giving ages of the deceased, so Brosnan doesn't know the median age of every resident who's died. But she does know the Livonia Fire Department used to go on two or three calls related to senior facilities a day. Now, it's between 10 and 14 calls a day. 

At the state level, the average age of the deceased is 72. People aged 20 to 107 are among the 1,076 in Michigan who've died as of April 9. 

City officials knew the large senior population would be in danger, which is why Brosnan said the city closed its senior center, recreation center and library before Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued the stay home order

Livonia has also closed most city buildings, including city hall. Brosnan even works from home these days. 

"I go into the office maybe a couple times a week to sign papers for a couple of minutes," she said. "But yeah, just about everybody is working from home."

As weather starts to warm and cabin fever sets it, Brosnan encouraged residents to stay the course and stay home to help lower the number of new coronavirus cases. 

"This really is the time to remain vigilant," she said. "You know as the weather begins to break and as the holiday hits this weekend, I know people are getting tired and worn down. But if we're really going to mitigate the damage of this disease, we are going to have to remain more vigilant than ever."

Contact reporter Shelby Tankersley at stankersle@hometownlife.com or 248-305-0448. Follow her on Twitter @shelby_tankk


-
IAFF Local 1164
14910 Farmington Rd.
Livonia, MI 48154
  7344662444

Top of Page image
Powered By UnionActive - Copyright © 2024. All Rights Reserved.