Michigan’s latest confirmed daily COVID-19 case numbers continue to show a decline from the peak of the omicron surge.
The number of people in Michigan hospital beds with COVID is also down significantly from the mid-January peak.
Laura Appel is a senior vice president with the Michigan Health and Hospital Association.
She says despite the decline in COVID patients, Michigan hospitals continue to struggle with patient capacity and staffing issues.
“The number of people who need hospitalization for heart disease, cancer treatments, gall bladder surgeries, etc, that is still pressing very hard on hospital capacity because of our staffing shortages.”
Appel expects it will take years to reverse the staffing shortages that were made worse during the pandemic.