(WXYZ) — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a COVID-19 relief bill that will provide around $106 million in aid to Michigan businesses and workers affected by the pandemic.
The bill will provide $55 million in aid to small businesses that can get up to $20,000 in grants. It will also provide $40,000 in grants to live music and entertainment venues, and $45 million in direct payments to workers who were laid off or furloughed due to the virus.
Michigan reported 3,239 new cases of COVID-19 and 60 new deaths over the weekend, according to the latest statistics from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
Related: State encourages Michiganders to come up with COVID-19 vaccination plan
This brings the total number of COVID-19 cases to 480,508 and the total number of deaths to 12,089, as of Tuesday morning.
According to MDHHS Chief Medical Executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, the numbers in the state continue to go down, but are higher than they were a few months ago.
Cases are now at 279 cases per million people per day, which has decreased over the past 38 days. That rate is still nearly four times higher than it was at the beginning of September.
As for test positivity, that rate is at 8.4% and has been declining for multiple weeks. It's still three times higher than at the beginning of September.
13.8% of in-patient beds are being used to treat COVID-19, down from 16.5% the previous week.
Also, deaths are going down. Khaldun said there was an average of 107 death sper day in the last week compared to 123 deaths per day in the previous week.
Testing is down, according to Khaldun, with an average of 37,307 tests per day in the past week.
She urged everyone who needs a test to get one, especially if you are showing symptoms, have been around someone showing symptoms or around someone who tested positive for COVID-19.
Both Whtimer and Khaldun also encouraged everyone to come up with a plan to get the vaccine when it's available to them.
Right now, the state is only vaccinating frontline workers and began vaccinations at long-term care facilities on Monday.
There have been more than 71,000 vaccines given to Michganders so far.
