Michigan COVID cases drop again in last week, but hospitalizations rise

Michigan reports 12,880 new COVID-19 cases, according to a weekly report from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services released Tuesday.

That’s a drop from the last report, when the state said there were 14,678 new cases for the week.

The department reports a total of 2,849,047 Michiganders have tested positive for COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. In total, 38,767 people have died from the virus with 143 deaths reported on Tuesday compared to 160 the week prior. 

However, as home testing has increased during the last year, 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 1,121 COVID-19 hospitalizations across Michigan hospitals, an increase of 63 from the previous week. The state also reported that 164 COVID-19 patients are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), which is up from 124 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 remains at “medium” after it had been at “high” a few weeks ago. There is just one county – Monroe County – at “high” risk level, which is down from 13 last week.

There are 25 counties across the state at “medium” risk level, and the remaining 57 counties are at a “low” risk level.

Johns Hopkins University reports that there are about 619 million confirmed cases worldwide and 6.5 million deaths. The United States makes up a significant portion of those, as 96.4 million confirmed cases and 1,060,327 deaths have been recorded nationally.

Michigan currently has an overall vaccination rate (one or more doses) of 68.4%, putting it in the lower half of state vaccination rates. About 61.4% of the state’s population has been fully vaccinated, while 34.8% of the state has received a booster shot.

About 75% of the entire United States population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.