Bridge has a fascinating look at when the region reacted with measure to limit the spread of COVID-19 and how it spread through the Great Lakes states.
The Michigan-based nonprofit news service reports:
The virus came to the Great Lakes states around the same time, with Michigan confirming its first two cases on March 10, when Illinois had 19 cases and Ohio had three.
Now, the numbers are vastly different: As of Tuesday, Michigan had 7,615 cases, Illinois had just under 6,000, and Ohio, Indiana and Wisconsin all have less than 2,200.
The wide difference raises questions about how the states could follow such different paths. Epidemiologists warn that it’s too early in the crisis to make conclusions, but some experts wonder if Michigan’s caseload would be different if public officials moved faster in the early days of the outbreak.