Michigan adds 1,992 cases, 99 deaths from COVID-19

Michigan on Tuesday added 1,992 coronavirus cases and 99 deaths from COVID-19.

The latest figures bring Michigan's total number of cases to 867,341 and deaths to 18,338 since the virus was first detected in March 2020, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services. 

Last week, the state added 18,248 new cases and 464 deaths from the virus.

During the previous week of April 25 through May 1, the state added 25,065 cases and 454 deaths. The week of April 18-24, Michigan added 34,013 new cases and 449 deaths. 

The weekly record of 50,892 cases was set in the week of Nov. 15-21. The second highest weekly total was 47,316 the week of Nov. 22-28.

The weekly record of 808 deaths was recorded in mid-December.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced the "MI Vacc to Normal" plan Thursday to tie the future of COVID-19 restrictions to the percentage of residents who have received their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine.

As of Monday, 55% of the state's residents over age 16 have received at least one dose of vaccine and 42.7% are fully vaccinated — initiating the first phase of Whitmer’s plan which includes four steps to gradually remove restrictions, beginning May 24. The final step, two weeks after 5.7 million residents, or 70% of the adult population, receive their first dose the state will lift its gathering and face mask orders, she said.

"While the daily case count, test positivity are still not where we want them to be, we’re headed in the right direction,” Whitmer said.

Michigan's latest data

The state continues to lead the nation at 190 cases per 100,000 people — a decrease from 252 cases per capita last week and a high of 519 cases per capita earlier in April — outpacing Minnesota at 167 cases per 100,000 people and Colorado at 157 cases per 100,000 people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The seven-day average percentage of COVID-19 tests bringing positive results has dropped from 11% to 9%.

Southwest Michigan, the Grand Rapids area and the Upper Peninsula are experiencing the fastest growth in COVID-19 cases. Saginaw has an infection rate of more than 15%. 

Those ages 10-19 and 20-29 have the highest case rates in the state, followed by 20-29, then 30-39.

From January to April, there have been 291 outbreaks from youth sports resulting in 1,217 infections, with the most clusters from basketball, hockey and wrestling. There were also 311 new outbreaks last week in K-12 schools.

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The state also has the fifth-highest death rate in the United States, according to the CDC's COVID data tracker.

About five states are seeing an increase in cases and 14 states are seeing weekly increases in hospitalizations. Michigan, Maryland and Delaware and the city of Washington, D.C. have the highest per-capita hospitalized patient numbers.

About 16% of hospital beds are filled with COVID-19 patients.

As of Monday, 2,206 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 with 654 in an intensive care unit and 431 on ventilators. That's a 47% drop from April 19 when hospitalizations peaked with 4,158 patients.

Twenty-six hospitals in Michigan are at 90% or more capacity, as of Friday. Ascension St. Joseph Hospital, Beaumont Hospital Wayne, St. Joseph Mercy Chelsea and St. Joseph Mercy Livingston Hospital are at full capacity, according to the Michigan Health & Hospital Association.

State health department officials remain cautious as new variants of COVID-19 spread. The variants are identified through target testing and state officials expect there are cases of variants that have not been identified or recorded.

As of Wednesday, Michigan has the second-highest number of cases of the variant B.1.1.7 with 6,857 cases.

The first case of the variant was identified in January in a University of Michigan student who had traveled from the United Kingdom. The variant has spread significantly in Washtenaw and Wayne counties. An outbreak of 90 cases at Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility in Ionia County appears to be the largest cluster of the variant and has spread to two other Michigan prisons, corrections officials said. There are 519 cases of the variant within the Michigan Department of Corrections.

The first case of the South African variant B.1.351 was confirmed by the state Bureau of Laboratories in a boy living in Jackson County. There are a total of 38 cases of the variant.

The first case of the P.1 variant from Brazil was identified in a Bay County resident. There are now 88 confirmed cases of P.1.

There are also 249 confirmed cases of B.1.427 and B.1.429, two variants formed in California.

On Friday, the state identified the first case of B.1.617 in Clinton County. The variant was initially detected in India in October.

Wayne County has the largest spread of the B.1.1.7 variant with more than 556 cases including 229 in Detroit. Wayne, Washtenaw, Macomb and Genesee counties have five of the six variants. Clinton County has all the reported variants. 

Vaccines available for all 16-plus

As of Monday, the state has administered 7.4 million of 9.8 million doses distributed. 

The state's fully vaccinated population includes 68% of all seniors 65 years and older, 50% of people aged 50 to 64, 36% of people age 40 to 49, and 32% of people age 30 to 39, according to the state's data tracker.

Canadian health officials said Wednesday they've approved Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for kids as young as 12.

The vaccine was cleared for use in children age 12 to 15 in the U.S. by the Food and Drug Administration Monday but is still awaiting CDC approval. Dr. Adnan Munkarah, Henry Ford's vice president and chief clinical officer, said Thursday U.S. approval is expected in the coming days.

"Especially, if you think of how children were undoubtingly impacted by this last surge, we welcome it," he said.

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The state ranks eighth in the nation for the number of people who are fully vaccinated. But the number of vaccinations administered in Michigan in the last week has dropped significantly, and supply has outpaced demand for the vaccines, according to the Michigan Health and Hospital Association.

“The MI Vacc to Normal challenge outlines steps we can take to emerge from this pandemic as we hit our vaccination targets together,” Whitmer said. “On our path to vaccinating 70% of Michiganders 16 and up, we can take steps to gradually get back to normal while keeping people safe. 

"If you haven’t already, I encourage you to rise to the challenge and be a part of the solution, so we can continue our economic recovery and have the summer we all crave.” 

In Detroit, vaccination rates lag as about 32% of residents have received one dose, according to the city's COVID-19 dashboard. That's compared to 56% of residents in outer-Wayne County, 60% in Oakland County, 50% in Macomb County and 61% in Washtenaw County.

To ramp up vaccinations Detroit is offering "good neighbor" incentives and walk-up vaccination clinics at the TCF Center, Farewell Recreational Center, Northwest Activities Center and the Samaritan Center. No appointment is needed.

The virus is blamed for more than 582,000 deaths and 32 million confirmed infections in the U.S.

The state is tracking 1,243 active outbreaks including 67 new school outbreaks since last week at educational institutions including K-12 public and private schools.

Another 24 outbreaks were in long-term care facilities, 14 outbreaks were in day care and child care programs, 24 in manufacturing and 14 in retail.

The state considers 703,746 people recovered from the virus as of Friday.

srahal@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @SarahRahal_