What’s going on with COVID-19 in Michigan? Here’s what we know.
Coronavirus cases and hospitalizations are spiking in Michigan more than anywhere else in the country right now. Officials are reporting more than 7,000 new infections each day, a sevenfold increase from late February.
Over the last week, Michigan has had a case rate of 515.8 per 100,000 people — the worst in the nation and four times higher than the rate in neighboring Ohio, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s what we know about the outbreak so far:
New case surge highest in country
The surge in cases in Michigan has reached levels of the winter surge and has seen daily new-case totals of more than 10,000 according to data tracked by the New York Times. The number of new cases over the last week is the worst rate in the country when population is taken into account.
At least 4 Michigan Republicans have tested positive for COVID-19 after restaurant meeting
At least four, and potentially more than eight, Michigan Republicans who attended a district meeting at a Portage restaurant on March 25 tested positive for COVID-19 afterward, according to GOP officials.
Jason Watts, an Allegan County Republican and the treasurer for the 6th District Republican Committee, has been in the hospital for five days. He tested positive for COVID-19 on April 1 and is certain he was exposed to the virus at the regular meeting of the district organization, he said in a Tuesday phone interview from a hospital room in Grand Rapids.
Watts said about 69 people attended the March 25 meeting and estimated that about three of them were wearing masks. From what he’s heard, he said he believes at least 10 people who were there later tested positive for COVID-19.
Deaths and hospitalizations also on the rise
While cases have surged, so have coronavirus indicators that usually trail cases: hospitalizations and deaths.
Michigan hit ‘record high’ for COVID-19 hospitalizations of children
Michigan is confronting yet another massive surge in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, which reached 3,953 Monday, surpassing the state’s November/December spike.
“The state is at a record high for hospitalizations for pediatrics during the entire pandemic and our hospital reflects that,” said Dr. Rudolph Valentini, a pediatric nephrologist at Children’s Hospital of Michigan and group chief medical officer for the Detroit Medical Center.
Statewide, 49 children were hospitalized Monday with either confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19, according to state data.
Vaccination rates are in the middle of the pack
Michigan’s rate of vaccinations when taking population into account is in the middle of the pack. Vaccination rates by county differ with higher vaccination rates in the Upper Peninsula, where case rates are lower.
CDC chief has urged Michigan to ‘close things down’ to help address the coronavirus outbreak
The director of the CDC said Monday that Michigan should “close things down” to help address the country’s worst coronavirus outbreak.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky made the statement after being asked about some public health experts’ calls to send additional doses of COVID-19 vaccine to the state, for which the governor has been advocating. The administration of President Joe Biden has stuck with allocating to states proportionally by population.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has avoided calling for a new lockdown
During previous surges in Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer shut down businesses and schools as she saw fit — over the din of both praise and protests. But this time, Whitmer has stopped far short of the sweeping shutdowns that made her a lightning rod.
“Policy change alone won’t change the tide,” Whitmer said Friday, as she asked — but did not order — that the public take a two-week break from indoor dining, in-person high school and youth sports. “We need everyone to step up and to take personal responsibility here.”
