Michigan #3 in Confirmed Cases but #14 in Number of People Tested

Why is Michigan seeing so many confirmed cases and deaths while so few people are being tested?

The most recent data by covidtracking.com as of 8:30 A.M. on April 2nd show the following:

Confirmed Cases By State:

New York 83,712
New Jersey 22,255
Michigan 9,334
California 8,155
Massachusetts 7,738
Illinois 6,980
Florida 6,955
Louisiana 6,424
Pennsylvania 5,805
Washington 5,634

Number of processed Covid-19 Tests by State:

New York 220,880
Florida 66,484
Washington 66,200
New Jersey 52,642
Massachusetts 51,738
Pennsylvania 48,232
Texas 47,857
Louisiana 45,776
Illinois 40,384
Tennessee 32,452
California 29,927
Ohio 29,539
North Carolina 26,243
Michigan 21,227

Politico points out Michigan's testing blind spots by saying,

Michigan, which opened its first drive-through testing site this week in the emerging hotspot of Detroit, saw its confirmed case count jump by 1,000 on Monday, and then again on Tuesday. The state ranks third nationally in deaths, with 259, but its per capita testing rate is less than one-third that of New York’s.

Experts tell Weforum.org why testing is important,

Testing is important because asking people with mild symptoms just to stay home will lead to more infections in the household and community. If tested and positive, people can either be isolated in a facility (like in China/Vietnam) or put on strict home isolation (which they are more likely to adhere to if they know they have the virus for sure). When resources are limited and when the healthcare system is overloaded, however, you don’t want a lot of non-sick people coming to health facilities and risking contagion.

There is no uniform system in place and that's a problem. Testing strategies don't just vary by state. They vary county to county and sometimes city to city.

For now, Michiganders need to obey the Stay Home, Stay Safe order in an effort to stop the spread of Covid-19.