LANSING, Mich. – Michigan’s three primary COVID-19 metrics have been steadily improving for weeks, and the progress is continuing, according to the state’s top health official.
READ: 11 takeaways from Gov. Whitmer’s latest COVID update
Recommended Videos
On Wednesday, during Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer‘s briefing, Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, the chief medical executive of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, updated the state’s case, positivity and hospitalization rates.
“I continue to be very encouraged by the data we are seeing in the state, with regards to COVID-19,” Khaldun said.
Michigan’s case rate continues to decline and is down to 113 cases per million people, she said. Compared to mid-November, the case rate is down 85%.
Just 3.9% of COVID-19 tests administered in Michigan are coming back positive, Khaldun said. That percentage has continued to decline in the past five weeks. For example, last week Michigan was at 4.5% positivity.
Only 5.2% of Michigan’s hospital beds are currently occupied by COVID-19 patients. That number is down 79% from the late fall peak, according to Khaldun.
She also said the number of active outbreaks being investigated by local health departments across Michigan is down 7% from the previous week. That’s a positive sign because during the height of the second spike, state contact tracers were overwhelmed and unable to follow up on all reports of potential outbreaks.
“These are very encouraging trends that have us moving in the right direction,” Khaldun said. “But as I’ve mentioned before over the past several weeks, we will continue to keep a close eye on a number of cases of the B117 variant that have been identified.”
Michigan has confirmed 157 cases of that variant across 12 counties, but overall, officials are encouraged that the metrics are moving in the right direction.