Monroe County sees increase of COVID-19 cases; transmissibility has returned to 'high' level

Monroe News Staff Report
·4 min read
COVID
COVID

Monroe County is reporting an increase in COVID-19 cases, and the region's transmissibility level has returned to high.

The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.

The county's positivity rate was 19.9% as of Tuesday morning, according to Kim Comerzan, health officer and director of the Monroe County Health Department. There were 255 confirmed cases reported in the region from April 28 through May 4.

"We are seeing cases increase at this time," Comerzan said in an email to the Monroe News. "Illness appears to be much milder than in the past, and last I heard the hospital has adequate capacity."

The uptick in local cases mirrors a trend seen across the state. New coronavirus cases leaped in Michigan in the week ending Sunday, rising 30.8% as 18,945 cases were reported. The previous week had 14,482 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.

Michigan ranked 17th among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States increased 33.2% from the week before, with 501,037 cases reported. With 3% of the country's population, Michigan had 3.78% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 43 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.

Within Michigan, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Washtenaw County with 398 cases per 100,000 per week; Oakland County with 266; and Keweenaw County with 236.

Adding the most new cases overall were Wayne County, with 4,124 cases; Oakland County, with 3,341 cases; and Macomb County, with 2,017. Weekly case counts rose in 75 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Wayne, Oakland and Kent counties.

>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases

Michigan ranked 35th among states in share of people receiving at least one shot, with 67% of its residents at least partially vaccinated. The national rate is 77.7%, a USA TODAY analysis of CDC data shows. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which are the most used in the United States, require two doses administered a few weeks apart.

In the week ending Wednesday, Michigan reported administering another 89,246 vaccine doses, including 9,262 first doses. In the previous week, the state administered 77,455 vaccine doses, including 6,524 first doses. In all, Michigan reported it has administered 15,906,503 total doses.

Across Michigan, cases fell in seven counties, with the best declines in Luce County, with 6 cases from 12 a week earlier; in Dickinson County, with 35 cases from 40; and in Mecosta County, with 31 cases from 35.

In Michigan, 62 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 67 people were reported dead.

A total of 2,444,891 people in Michigan have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 36,064 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 81,863,725 people have tested positive and 997,526 people have died.

Note: In the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus data, cases and deaths for the Michigan Department of Corrections and the Federal Correctional Institution separately from Michigan counties.

>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States

Michigan's COVID-19 hospital admissions rising

USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, May 8.

Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:

  • Last week: 1,133

  • The week before that: 915

  • Four weeks ago: 605

Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:

  • Last week: 45,875

  • The week before that: 42,092

  • Four weeks ago: 37,354

Hospitals in 36 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 32 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 35 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.

ProMedica’s Director of Public Relations, Tausha Moore, told the Monroe News that, "in recent weeks, ProMedica Monroe Regional Hospital has been treating up to eight COVID-19 positive patients at any given time."

"Most of the hospital's recent COVID-19 patients have not required intensive care," Moore said. "The overall acuity level for COVID-19 patients has been much lower than what we saw earlier in the pandemic. Our overall hospital census has been 80 to 100% of capacity for the past 6-8 weeks."

The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Monroe County sees increase of COVID-19 cases