LANSING, Mich. – Michigan’s top medical official said the state has seen a sharp rise in the number of daily COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations over the past week.
Dr. Joneigh Khaldun broke down how cases are trending in terms of the number of COVID-19 cases per million people per day.
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“Michiganders did a great job of bringing our cases down after a surge in the spring,” Khaldun said. “Basic things like wearing masks, maintaining a physical distance from others and washing hands worked. Yet as the colder months and flu season have arrived, we now see a concerning jump in our cases -- a trend we can reverse if we all take this seriously and follow best practices to slow the spread of COVID-19.”
The recent increase in cases, along with people gathering indoors more frequently due to cooler weather, creates a risk of greater community spread.
Current numbers
Michigan currently has 89 daily cases per million people, with 3.6% of tests coming back positive. There are also 698 COVID-19 hospitalizations.
At the same point last week, Michigan officials reported 81.6 daily cases per million people, 3.4% positivity and 586 hospitalizations for COVID-19.
“At the height of the COVID-19 response in Michigan, our frontline hospital workers were working around the clock to treat COVID-19 patients," said Brian Peters, chief executive officer of the Michigan Health & Hospital Association. “As we see cases on the rise again and more hospital beds with patients than we have in weeks, we must remember what mask wearing and social distancing does: it prevents cases, it prevents hospitalizations, and it prevents deaths.”
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Scientists and doctors agree that masks and face coverings can help to reduce the spread by about 70%. About 40% of people who have COVID-19 might be asymptomatic and capable of spreading the virus to others.
Although many people getting infected with COVID-19 this fall don’t need to be hospitalized, officials said it’s still important to wear masks and socially distance to prevent those who will have severe disease from getting infected.
More coverage
Here’s much more recent coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Whitmer’s handling of pandemic:
Reopening Michigan:
Health questions, advice:
Vaccines:
Outbreaks:
Unemployment:
Individual stories:
Changes: