(WXYZ) — Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan provided another of his daily updates about coronavirus in the city on Thursday afternoon.
Duggan updated the COVID-19 numbers and announced a major PPE donation from the Detroit Pistons & Brooklyn Nets owners.
Pistons Owner Tom Gores and Tsai partnered to deliver 350,000 KN95 face masks 100,000 medical goggles to help the city and its fight against COVID-19.
Updates from the press conference below.
2:35 p.m.
Duggan is asked about the infection rates at the Wayne County Jail. Duggan talks about the city offering the 15-minute tests on deputies and prisoners, but that the county would have more.
He also said he has had continuing conversations with Dr. Joneigh Khaldun about easing hospital restrictions.
He said it's 50% on the govenror but 50% on the health providers.
He adds doctors' offices and healthcare systems should communicate what they're doing to keep patients safe.
2:34 p.m.
Duggan said they are now testing about 1,200 people a day, and they want to bring contractor workers safely.
He said starting Monday, you'll be seeing more work done in the city.
2:33 p.m.
Fair said there are now, 9,036 COVID-19 cases in the city.
2:32 p.m.
They are now working to test long-term care facility residents by May 15. She said they have already tested six facilities.
2:30 p.m.
Chief Health Officer Denise Fair speaks, updating the nursing home and long-term care facility strategies.
According to Fair, they are now focusing on nursing home staff, and they are hoping to get all staff members tested by May 11. She said 24 of the 26 nursing homes have already called to get their staff tested.
2:29 p.m.
Craig said that 1,015 officers have returned to duty. There are no disruptions to service and the commands are fully staffed, according to Craig.
He said in the last couple of days, he met with precincts and conducted inspection for PPE and he said everyone was wearing their masks in and out of the station.
"every time I went into the station, upon my arrival and departure, they checked my temperature," Craig said.
He said officers are engaged, not complaining, with a few exceptions, and he's having conversations with union leadership.
2:26 p.m.
Detroit Police Chief James Craig said that he has some exciting news to report, and thanks the mayor for his leadership in getting rapid testing.
According to Craig, as of Thursday, there are 69 members who are positive with COVID-19. He said throughout the testing, there have been a total of 299 who tested positive.
For quarantine, as of Thursday, there are 99 members quarantine. 76 of those are sworn officers and 23 are civilian. In all, there were 1,116 officers quarantined.
2:24 p.m.
Now that we are coming down, Duggan said, they need the people of the city and the state to start opening the hospitals back up and that people should start to get their treatments again.
Duggan said that they've seen a rise in the number of people dying before EMS arrives from things other than COVID-19.
"Hospitals know how to treat you in times of infectious disease. They know how to segregate wards," Duggan said.
He said they could't do it two weeks ago when they were overloaded, but they're getting to that point.
2:22 p.m.
Duggan said he is calling on the governor and the state to open up the rest of the medical center.
He said he thinks the day-to-day healthcare of a lot of Detroiters is being neglected, as they never had 700 empty beds before the outbreak.
Duggan said that health disparities between Black and White communities get worse when people can't get to the doctor.
2:21 p.m.
Because of the testing and because the people backed social distancing, Duggan said that when they hit April 1, the city leveled off and plateaued from April 1-April 17, when others would
He said the city would be judged by how many beds they used at the TCF Center. He said they never got above 16 beds at the facility. Today, there are 12.
Duggan said if they keep doing what they're doing, conversations will begin on opening back up.
2:19 p.m.
Duggan said that Detroit hospitals have 700 empty beds and another 100 empty ICU beds, saying it was "inconceivable" a couple weeks ago.
He talks about the beginning of the rise on March 23 and 24.
"It was remarkable how fast we had taken off," he said.
That's when the decision to build a field hospital at the TCF Center.
He said if they would've doubled one more time in three days, they would've been off the chart.
2:18 p.m.
Duggan shows a chart that shows the daily deaths in the city going down. It shows that from April 22-28, there have been 92 deaths, compared to 192 the week before.
2:17 p.m.
Duggan said "it has been remarkable" the way people around the country have pitched in to help.
He said the city is continuing to shift to see how they'll operate as the months to come.
Duggan said as of Thursday there are 1,036 deaths in the state.
2:16 p.m.
Tsai talks about how the partnership with the Pistons came about.
He said he talked with Pistons Chair Arn Tellem, who responded without hesitation saying the team would help get the supplies and distribute it.
2:15 p.m.
Tsai is asked about a possible NBA season, and he said they don't feel comfortable putting fans arenas until they know it's safe.
2:12 p.m.
Tsai talks about small businesses in Detroit and said Alibaba is working to find out how to help small businesses in America.
2:09 p.m.
Duggan said this is a reminder of how important Detroit has become to the world, mentioning a donation from Goldman Sachs last week.
2:08 p.m.
Tsai is talking about his time in Detroit during the Alibaba conference to help small businesses, mentioning he and his wife went to Selden Standard and then Avalon Bakery after.
2:06 p.m.
Tsai that they worked with the Detroit Pistons organization to help transport the supplies.
He said the supplies arrived from China into Chicago a few days ago, and now they're taking trucks to haul them and distribute them by next Monday.
2:04 p.m.
Joe Tsai starts speaking and thanks Mayor Duggan for his work. He said he and his wife asked themselves the hardest-hit cities in America.
Tsai said that he noticed in Detroit that the deaths skewed toward minorities and the elderly, and that's something they are very focused on.
"I'm very glad to partner with your office," he said.
2:03 p.m.
Duggan talks about Alibaba, which is owned by Tsai, and held its first conference in Detroit a few years ago.
Duggan said the Joe and Clara Tsai Foundation reached out to see how they can help.
So the Foundation is sending 350,000 KN95 masks and 100,000 medical goggles to help go to smaller grocery stores, contractors, homeless shelters, testing sites and more.
2 p.m.
Duggan introduces the press conference joined by Chief Medical Officer Denise Fair and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, as well as Brooklyn Nets Owner Joe Tsai.
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