Get Caught Up: Here are 68 Michigan COVID facts -- latest trends, vaccine effectiveness, child data, more

DETROIT – Michigan has released a new breakdown of the state’s latest COVID data and trends, including the effectiveness of vaccines, outbreaks in schools and what to expect in the near future.

This data is as of Tuesday (Sept. 14), according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. We pulled out 68 of the most important facts below.

“Get Caught Up” is ClickOnDetroit’s Saturday news review to help readers catch up on the biggest stories of the week.

Indicators show increased spread

• Michigan is still categorized as “high transmission,” per MDHHS.
• The state’s percent positivity is at 9.7% and has been increasing for 2.5 months. It was at 9.2% last week.
• Michigan’s case rate is 173.1 cases per million people and has also been increasing for 2.5 months. It was at 169.2 last week.
• Of the positive tests available for sequencing in Michigan in the last four weeks, more than 99% were cases of the delta variant.
• As of Tuesday, 6.8% of inpatient beds were occupied by people with COVID, a number that’s been increasing for eight weeks. It’s up from 5.8% last week.
• The death rate -- 1.8 deaths per million people -- has been increasing for six weeks. It was at 1.7 last week.
• There were 123 COVID deaths for the week from Aug. 31 to Sept. 6.
• The seven-day average testing rate in Michigan is at 2,967.5 tests per million people per day.
• MDHHS reports the proportion of children getting sick with COVID is increasing.

Vaccinations

• Michigan has administered 10.35 million doses of the COVID vaccine.
• 51.3% of Michiganders are fully vaccinated -- about 5.1 million people.
• Michigan administered 5,357 first doses per day this week.
• Vaccines were administered most frequently by pharmacies, local health departments and hospitals.
• Overall, 83.1% of people 65 and older in Michigan are fully vaccinated.
• In Michigan, 67.2% of people ages 18 and up have had at least one dose of the vaccine -- the 12 and up vaccine coverage data is shown in the chart below.
• Exactly 5,119,223 people in Michigan have completed the vaccination series, as of Tuesday, MDHHS says.
• More than 50,000 third doses were administered since the third dose was recommended for immunocompromised residents.
• 13,167,470 doses have been delivered to providers and 10,352,589 doses have been administered.

Breakthrough cases

• Less than 1% of vaccinated Michiganders later tested positive for COVID.
• A total of 24,603 people out of 4,756,092 (0.517%) have tested positive for COVID 14 or more days after being fully vaccinated.
• Only 330 fully vaccinated Michiganders (0.022%) have died from COVID -- 291 ages 65 and older.
• There have only been 1,043 COVID hospitalizations (0.007%) for people who were fully vaccinated.
• Trends over time show that both case and death rates among the fully vaccinated are much lower than those who aren’t vaccinated in Michigan.

What science suggests for future

• MDHHS says a ridge regression model projects COVID spread to continue increasing in Michigan, though case trends might be slowing.
• A model from the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention projects hospitalizations and deaths to continue to increase.
• A CDC models project continued increases in hospitalizations and deaths for Michigan, while cases are expected to plateau.

Around the country and world

• In total, 224,880,598 COVID cases and 4,633,870 deaths have been confirmed around the world.
• The countries with the highest COVID case count are the United States at 40,986,279, India at 33,264,175 and Brazil at 20,999,779.
• Nearly all U.S. jurisdictions have “high” community transmission.

Delta variant

• With positivity, case rates and death rates increasing around Michigan, the CDC is recommending everyone wear masks indoors, regardless of vaccination status.
• More than 90% of the counties in Michigan are at “high” transmission level due to the delta variant.
• Nationwide, the U.S. is at 248 cases per 100,000 people in the last seven days.
• The number of active outbreaks in Michigan is up 26% from last week.
• MDHHS reports that, at this point, cumulative data doesn’t suggest the delta surge in Michigan is subsiding.
• For the first time, all 83 Michigan counties have had a least one specimen sequenced with a variant.
• Keweenaw County now has one delta specimen sequence result after it was reported in the last week.

Children

• More than 230 children under age 12 get infected with COVID every day, MDHHS says. That’s 40 more per day than last week.
• Pediatric case rates have risen from 138.9 to 168.2, with all Michigan regions increasing except for the Traverse City Region.
• The case rate for children in the Upper Peninsula has more than doubled, rising from 190.5 to 392.6 cases per million children since last week, MDHHS reports.
• More than 40 children ages 17 and younger are admitted to the hospital with COVID each day in Michigan, according to the data.
• During the school reopening period from Aug. 18 through Sept. 8, the largest percentage of COVID increase has been among people younger than 18 years old.
• The case rate range is higher in Michigan counties where school districts don’t require masks.

View: Tracking COVID outbreaks in Michigan schools, colleges

Age group data

• Case rate trends for all age groups are increasing.
• Case rates are between 100 and 260 cases per million for all age groups, as of Sept. 3.
• Case rates are currently highest for the 10-19-year-old group, followed, in order, by 30-39, 20-29, 40-49 and 0-9 years old, per MDHHS.
• The largest one-week grown for this period is in the 10-19-year-old age group.
• The average daily number of cases for those ages 10-19 years old is 330.7 and the average daily case rate is 263.5 cases per million people. Those numbers are both the highest of any age group.
• Recent one-week decreases are likely due to backfill and the Labor Day holiday, according to MDHHS.

COVID cases by race, ethnicity

• Since the previous week, COVID cases per million are increasing for all races and ethnicities.
• American Indian/Alaskan Native have the highest case rates, MDHHS reports.
• In the past 30 days, 22% (a 2% increase) of race data and 27% (a 3% increase) of ethnicity data was either missing or reported as unknown, according to MDHHS.

Outbreaks

• The number of active outbreaks in Michigan is up 26% from last week, with 137 new outbreaks identified -- an increase of 26.
• K-12 schools reported the greatest number of new outbreaks with 71 this week.
• The umber of reported outbreaks in K-12 schools increased from 41 to 108 since last week, including increases in high schools (14 to 44), and middle/junior high schools (six to 17), pre-K/elementary (19 to 39), and administrative (two to four), per MDHHS.
• There were nine new outbreaks in childcare and youth programs, bringing the total number of outbreaks in settings primarily with those ages 0-19 years old to 80, according to MDHHS.
• The next greatest number of new outbreaks was in long-term care/skilled nursing home facilities, with 21. That was followed by retail, with six, and manufacturing and construction, with five.

Hospitalizations and deaths

• MDHHS says 3.5% of emergency department visits are for COVID diagnoses, with is up from 3.1% last week.
• Hospital admissions are increasing in Michigan for most age groups.
• Hospitalizations are up 18% since last week. The previous week saw a 5% increase.
• Nearly all Michigan geographical regions experienced an increase in hospitalization trends this week.
• The volume of COVID patients in intensive care units has increased 16% since last week. The previous week saw a 9% increase.
• The one-week percent change of COVID deaths (1.8 deaths per million people per day, up from 1.7% the previous week) is 7%. It was up 34% the previous week.
• The death rate has increased for six weeks and is 310% higher than the July 22 low.
• The 30-day proportion of deaths among people younger than 60 years old is steady from the previous week.
• Over the past week, those ages 50-64 years old saw the highest number of average daily emergency department visits (4.7%), but those between 25 and 74 are all above the state average.
• Trends for daily average hospital admissions have increased 13% since last week.
• Most age groups saw a one-week increase in daily hospital admissions. The largest increase was in people over 40.
• People 60-69 years old have seen the highest number of average daily hospital admissions, with 37.

View: Tracking Michigan COVID-19 hospitalization data trends

View more: Michigan COVID data

Beaumont Health says 10 emergency departments nearly full as system deals with ‘extreme’ amount of patients, staff shortage

Beaumont Health said Wednesday all of its 10 emergency departments are nearly full as an “extreme” amount of patients seeking medical attention.

The health system is encouraging patients to consider all options for treatment and evaluation, such as urgent care. Beaumont said that while some of the patients are seeking care for COVID-19, the “overwhelming majority” of the patients currently coming to Beaumont’s emergency departments have other medical conditions and concerns.

They’re also dealing with a staffing shortage, Beaumont Health CEO John Fox said.

“Many people delayed getting tests and treatment for medical issues because of their concerns about the pandemic. Now, more than a year and a half after the pandemic began, those delays in care are resulting in medical emergencies. Plus, there are many people who still need to get vaccinated. So, our staff must care for those unvaccinated individuals who become extremely ill with the COVID Delta variant, or other variants, and try to balance all the other patients coming in with medical emergencies. Add in a staffing shortage, and you have a perfect storm,” Fox said.

Beaumont Health Chief Nursing Officer Susan Grant said “we know the (COVID) vaccine works and we know it helps save lives” as she urged people to get the shots.

“If you have any questions or concerns about the vaccine, please talk with a physician or nurse,” said Grant.

To address staffing shortages, the health system is working aggressively to recruit new team members to serve its patients. Right now, about 180 of Beaumont’s beds are temporarily closed because of a lack of staffing.

Beaumont is requiring all of its employees, including those in nonpatient-facing roles, to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 by Oct. 18. There are limited exceptions for individuals with specific religious or medical reasons.

Moreover, the health system said it’s also experiencing a blood shortage. Beaumont encourages everyone to donate blood.

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