Hospitals are scrambling to create empty beds in anticipation of a wave of COVID-19 victims, a surge that could swamp the state’s health care system.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Monday ordered all bars, restaurants and casinos to close, but she also expanded unemployment insurance benefits in ways that may help workers who lose their jobs or are furloughed.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has closed schools, gyms, theaters and bars. Why not child care centers? The reason: So that medical workers and first responders who need to stay on the job have child care.

Minutes before Gov. Whitmer ordered state restaurants and bars to close dine-in services, Justin Winslow, president and CEO of the Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association, described to Bridge Magazine the dramatic impact the new coronavirus is already having.

For many of Michigan’s elderly, shuttered senior centers, bans on visits at nursing homes and canceled worship services threaten to cut off contact with friends and children.

The new coronavirus offers an extraordinary opportunity to build community — safely, at arm’s length — one pastor assured a mostly empty church.

From college towns to big cities, Michiganders are crowding into bars despite warnings from health officials. That has some calling for Michigan to adopt stricter limits.

Monday marks the beginning of a three-week school closure in Michigan because of the coronavirus pandemic. The unprecedented crisis has parents searching for nannies, taking kids to work and throwing away rules on screen time.

Yes, free lunches are available from a lot of Michigan schools even during the break. No, your child won’t fall behind in class work if they don’t have access to high-speed Internet at home. Will the school year be extended? There are no plans — yet.

Some doctor’s offices are telling patients with flu-like symptoms to stay out of their office to avoid infecting others. And as one man learned, getting tested for coronavirus can be a fool’s errand.

Detroit has turned water back on to fewer than 100 homes despite a program that slashes reconnection fees to $25. City officials say they are racing to solve phone and contractor issues they blame for the delays.

Proactively closing schools might help, but the three weeks that Michigan schools will be shut down may not be long enough to be effective.