Coronavirus death toll continues to climb in China

No confirmed cases in Michigan

DETROIT – Despite extraordinary measures the coronavirus continues to spread in China and the death toll is still climbing.

Deaths have now exceeded those from SARS and global health experts are scrambling to find a way to slow down the virus.

The state health department said the latest person from Michigan to be tested for the virus was negative. That means there are no confirmed cases in Michigan.

READ: First American death reported in coronavirus outbreak

Test kits for the coronavirus arrived in Michigan over the weekend, the state lab expects the testing to be up and running within a week. That should speed up results for anyone in Michigan who needs to be tested going forward.

Meanwhile the situation in China remains critical. The death toll has topped 900, and there are over 40,000 infected. The vast majority are in mainland China.

The president of China visited a containment site and made a promise that China will win the fight against the virus. Experts from the World Health Organization are finally being allowed in to investigate the countries response to the coronavirus outbreak and provide support.

Australian researchers said they’ve made a critical breakthrough, successfully growing the live virus from patients. That’s an important step in developing faster diagnostic tools.

More than 800 Americans have now been evacuated from China and are being held under a mandatory quarantine order at various military bases in California, Colorado, Texas and Nebraska.

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About the Author:

Karen Drew is the anchor of Local 4 News First at 4, weekdays at 4 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. She is also an award-winning investigative reporter.