Dr. Annette Mercatante, Medical Health Officer at St. Clair County Health Department, spoke at Monday’s Port Huron City Council Meeting. She provided a wealth of information about the state of COVID-19 in the county and worked to dispel some myths. She said that the amount of misinformation that is floating around is “absolutely stunning”. She cleared up a few rumors, saying that Port Huron is not a hot spot for the virus; it just has the highest population density in the county. She estimated that less than 5% of the county’s population has been infected. As social distancing restrictions are relaxed, exposure is expected to increase. Mercatante said that the belief that the danger of infection is “over” when restrictions are lifted is “the most distressing attitude”. She expected that the county will move into a phase of managing the risk as parts of the stay-at-home order are lifted. Mercatante said the county has 51 ventilators and that hospitals in the county have not been overwhelmed at this point
