Photo: JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP / Getty Images
Michigan currently has COVID case and hospitalization rates – 19 highest in the country, and the average test positivity rate is higher than 17%, almost six times the 3 % that public health officials say shows that spread in the community is controlled.
While deaths are increasing again, the rise is happening more slowly than during the fall surge.
The Michigan Department of Health confirmed on Saturday 5, 530 new cases of COVID – 19 Y 69 deaths. Of the 69 deaths, 60 were identified during a vital records review, which the department conducts three times a week.
Michigan now has a total of 785, 307 confirmed cases and 16, 840 deaths since March .
The state has led the nation in new cases per population for two weeks , and Michigan Executive Medical Director Dr. Joneigh Khaldun described the situation in the state as “dire.”
In the last vaccine status update, on Thursday 87, 795 doses in Michigan.
The seven-day average for administered doses is 80, 141, below the state target of 100, 000 per day. Population of 16 years or more , the 29. 8% are fully vaccinated, with a goal that the 70% is vaccinated at the end of the year.
Some restrictions and requirements were extended
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) announced Friday that its order due to the epidemic regarding meetings and use of masks would remain in effect until 24 May. While most of the order has not changed, extended the mask use requirements to children as young as 2 years old.
The increase in cases started since March when restrictions were lifted and there were problems with the distribution and the start of vaccination.
Still, the rise in daily cases has put Michigan hospitals on the brink of collapse, with covid admissions at its highest point since the beginning of the pandemic.
As of Thursday, three health centers of that state were at 100% of their capacity, while at least 35 were about to be, reported The Detroit News.
Michigan’s largest hospital network, Beaumont Health, issued a statement describing the situation as “problematic and alarming,” noting that the number of hospital admissions grew from 128 the 28 from February to more than 800 the last Thursday.
More restrictions or not?
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer blamed the spike in infections this week on the spread of new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and pandemic fatigue , since many citizens are abandoning public health protocols and there is more mobility.
The governor and MDHHS have been reluctant to institute stronger restrictions during this increase in cases, and instead have been asking people and businesses to adhere to pandemic mitigation protocols and get vaccinated as quickly as possible and promise expanded use Antibody and Antiviral Therapies for Those Who Are Sick with COVID – 19.
Faced with the highest rate of new coronavirus infections in the country, Governor Whitmer urged that face-to-face classes be suspended for two weeks high school, all youth sports and indoor restaurant dinners, on April 9, to curb the spread of Covid – 19.
With information from EFE