CLICK BELOW TO HEAR COMMENTS FROM GOV. WHITMER AND DR. KHALDUN
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services reported 669 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, and five new deaths.
The state also went back through death certificates and matched 11 more deaths to people who had previously tested positive for the virus. Those people could have died days or weeks ago, according to the MDHHS.
The Upper Peninsula has seen a total of 442 positive test results since the crisis began in March. New cases were added Tuesday in Marquette, Menominee, Mackinac, and Iron Counties.
There have also been 55 “probable” cases in the U.P. with no positive test result.
At a Tuesday afternoon press conference, Dr. Joneigh Khaldun said that the numbers are looking better across the state, although she cautioned that the positivity rate has inched up to around 3.6%.
“Overall, for the past two weeks, we’ve seen a plateau in the number of daily new cases,” Khaldun said. “We continue to see low levels of deaths, and hospitalization rates remain steady. These are both very good signs. The number of new cases continues to vary by region.”
She says the Upper Peninsula and Traverse City regions are now below the target of 20 cases per million people daily rate, which is why the U.P. remains in Phase Five of the state’s economic re-opening plan.
There have been concerns raised by local health departments of increases in cases, however, in particular in counties that border Wisconsin.
Kalduhn also said there’s more good news: testing is going well.
“Each region of the state, and this is good news, is now reaching the goal for testing in their region, which is a good sign,” Khaldun said. “Combined, over the past week, we’ve tested an average of 27,000 per day, and that’s an average of five thousand more people (per day) than the previous week.”
The Detroit, Grand Rapids, and Saginaw regions all have a little more than 40 cases per million population, per day. The Kalamazoo and Lansing regions have around 30 cases per million per day.
“The good news is the Grand Rapids region has seen a two-week steady decline in cases, and today, we’ll be able to move them out of the ‘high risk’ category,” Khaldun said. “The Kalamazoo and Lansing regions have also seen a recent decrease as well.”
Khaldun says she’s keeping an eye on the percent positive rate, which rose from 3.6% to 3.7% in the past week. She said that most experts agree the rate should be below three percent to ensure that there is no community spread.
At the same news conference, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer urged people to “mask up” to make it more likely that the state would not revert to Phase Three, which would mean no in-person instruction for Michigan’s K-12 schools. The U.P. and northern Lower Michigan remain in Phase Five; downstate areas are in Phase Four.
Wbitmer did not make any changes to restrictions on Tuesday, although she warned that deaths and hospitalizations are “lagging indicators” and the people of Michigan need to continue to be vigilant in the battle against the virus.
UPPER PENINSULA POSITIVE CASES (DEATHS)
Alger County 3
Baraga County 5
Chippewa County 20
Delta County 49 (3 deaths)
Dickinson County 42 (2 deaths)
Gogebic County 58 (1 death)
Houghton County 39
Iron County 15 (1 death)
Keweenaw County 2
Luce County 3
Mackinac County 16
Marquette County 110 (11 deaths)
Menominee County 70
Ontonagon County 2
Schoolcraft County 8
UPPER PENINSULA PROBABLE CASES (No positive test result)
Alger County 2
Chippewa County 7
Delta County 13
Dickinson County 1
Gogebic County 6
Houghton County 7
Mackinac County 3
Marquette County 10
Menominee County 5
Ontonagon County 1
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