Detroit Police Chief James Craig Contracts Coronavirus

Detroit’s top law enforcement officer, James Craig, tested positive for the Chinese coronavirus, according to an announcement Friday afternoon.

The announcement was made by Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan during a news conference discussing the city’s response to the coronavirus, which includes a new testing facility.

“Chief James Craig, this morning, tested positive for COVID-19,” Duggan said. “It’s something that we knew was a possibility. He is very fit. He’s got mild symptoms. And he is very much in charge of running this department. I think I’ve talked to him ten times today. But he’s not going to be back on site until he fully recovers.”

Duggan also announced during the news conference that Assistant Chief James White will assume day-to-day operations of the department, with White stating that he will stay in close communications with Craig as the coronavirus pandemic further unfolds.

The Detroit Police Department previously announced the deaths of a 911 call taker and homicide Capt. Jonathan Parnell, both of whom officials claimed had tested positive for the coronavirus.

On Thursday, a draft letter from Henry Ford Health System, one of southeast Michigan’s major hospital systems, was leaked online and revealed the hospital’s policy to prioritize “patients who have the best chance of getting better” in the event of a shortage due to the coronavirus pandemic, as reported by Breitbart News Senior Editor-at-Large Rebecca Mansour.

“Patients who have the best chance of getting better are our first priority. Patients will be evaluated for the best plan of care and dying patients will be provided comfort care,” the letter stated.

Some of the conditions that would make a person ineligible for an ICU bed or a ventilator include “severe heart, lung, kidney or liver failure; Terminal cancers; Severe trauma or burns.”

According to the state’s top health official, Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, hospitals in southeast Michigan are “at or near capacity.”

William Beaumont Health System, another major hospital provider in the Metro Detroit area, said Wednesday its hospitals were swamped with 650 patients who had tested positive for the COVID-19 virus and more than 200 with tests pending.

“The number of patients coming to our emergency rooms continues to grow rapidly,” Beaumont CEO John Fox said.

As of Friday at 3 p.m., there were 3,657 total confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Michigan with 92 deaths, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.