Michigan COVID cases continue to drop

Michigan is reporting 6,027 new COVID-19 cases, according to a weekly report the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services released Tuesday.

That’s a drop from the last report issued Jan. 24, when the state said there were 6,530 new cases for the week.

A total of 3,030,505 Michiganders have tested positive for COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, according to the department. In total, 41,690 people have died from the virus, with 245 deaths reported on Tuesday compared to 260 last week. 

However, as home testing has increased since 2021, experts note that some cases are not being recorded. 

The virus has been detected in all of Michigan’s 83 counties. The state’s COVID-19 fatality rate is at 1.4% as of Tuesday.

As of Tuesday, the state reported a total of 710 adults and 16 pediatric patients were hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases across Michigan hospitals, which was down from the previous week’s totals of 710 adults and 16 children.

The state also reported that 85 confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), which is seven fewer than last week.

The first two cases of COVID-19 were reported in the state on March 10, 2020. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency that day.

The community risk level for Michigan is at “low” following its increase to “medium” in early January.

Only one county, Monroe, is at a “medium” risk level. The state’s remaining 82 counties are at a “low” risk level.

Johns Hopkins University reports that there are 670.6 million confirmed cases worldwide and more than 6.8 million deaths. The United States makes up a significant portion of those, as 102 million confirmed cases and 1,108,101 deaths have been recorded nationally.

Michigan currently has an overall vaccination rate (one or more doses) of 69.4%, putting it in the lower half of state vaccination rates. About 62.3% of the state’s population has been fully vaccinated. Just 36.5% of the state has received a booster dose, while 16.6% have received a Bivalent dose.

About 81% of the entire United States population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.