LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday extended Michigan’s stay-at-home order through April, saying it must continue longer to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

Meanwhile, a Detroit-area health care system with hundreds of COVID-19 patients said it is seeing “glimmers of hope” as the number of people sent home exceeds the number appearing in emergency rooms.

KEEP STAYING HOME:

Whitmer’s first stay-at-home order took effect March 24 and would have expired early next week. It still prohibits employers from requiring workers to leave their homes unless necessary to protect life or conduct minimum basic operations. It also bars gatherings of any number outside a single household, except to care for a family member, though places of worship are exempt.

A new section of the order puts restrictions on stores to reduce crowds. Large stores must limit the number of customers to no more than four at a time for every 1,000 square feet of space. Small stores must limit capacity to 25% of the total occupancy limits.

Big-box stores are prohibited from selling non-essential items, such as gardening and landscaping supplies for spring.

“If you’re not buying food or medicine or other essential items, you should not be going to stores,” the governor said.

She cautioned that a roughly three-week extension doesn’t mean “everything will go back to normal on May 1.”

“It will take time to safely and responsibly reopen the economy, which is why we will continue to provide critical unemployment support and assistance to our small businesses during this challenging time,” Whitmer said.

HOSPITAL SEES HOPE

Henry Ford Health System reported 714 COVID-19 patients at its five hospitals in Detroit and the suburbs. More than 900 have been sent home in the last 30 days.

Dr. Steven Kalkanis, a senior executive at Henry Ford Health System, said “we are in the middle of this surge” but that the news was getting better.

“We’re actually discharging patients to home more than those that show up to the emergency room,” Kalkanis said. “Secondly, we’re getting patients successfully weaned off of ventilators more than those who need to go on ventilators. ... We do have several glimmers of hope.”

Michigan reported at least 21,504 confirmed cases Thursday and 1,076 deaths from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. The number of new cases dropped 15% from Wednesday while the number of new deaths was virtually unchanged at 117.

About 80% of the people infected are in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties and Detroit.