St. Joseph County's COVID cases fall 27.8%; Michigan cases plummet 19.2%

The Rev. Heather Hennessey of Pilgrim Congregational Church, left, inserts small flags into the lawn outside Redding (Calif.) City Hall on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022, as a memorial to the 545 Shasta County residents who have died from COVID-19.
The Rev. Heather Hennessey of Pilgrim Congregational Church, left, inserts small flags into the lawn outside Redding (Calif.) City Hall on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022, as a memorial to the 545 Shasta County residents who have died from COVID-19.

Michigan reported far fewer coronavirus cases in the week ending Feb. 27, adding 14,793 new cases. That's down 19.2% from the previous week's tally of 18,308 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.

St. Joseph County reported 57 cases and four deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 79 cases and three deaths. Throughout the pandemic, it has reported 13,572 cases and 196 deaths.

Michigan ranked 20th among the states where coronavirus was spreading 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 U.S. decreased 33.7% from the week before, with 461,986 cases reported. With 3% of the country's population, Michigan had 3.2% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, five states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.

Cases fell in 75 counties, with the steepest declines in Oakland County, with 1,582 cases from 2,421 a week earlier; in Genesee County, with 449 cases from 859; and in Ottawa County, with 327 cases from 582.

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Michigan ranked 35th among states in share of people receiving at least one shot, with 66.1% of its residents at least partially vaccinated. The national rate is 76.3%, 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.

Within the past week, Michigan reported administering another 119,500 vaccine doses, including 25,039 first doses. In the previous week, the state administered 141,362 vaccine doses, including 18,768 first doses. In all, Michigan reported it has administered 15,205,838 total doses.

Within Michigan, the highest number of weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Kalamazoo County, with 326 cases per 100,000 per week; Clinton County, with 261; and Washtenaw County, with 239. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.

Adding the most new cases overall were Wayne County, with 2,279 cases; Oakland County, with 1,582 cases; and Macomb County, with 1,453. Weekly case counts rose in seven counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Kalamazoo, Kent and Wayne counties.

In Michigan, 479 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 535 people were reported dead.

A total of 2,357,955 people in Michigan have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 34,477 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 78,939,203 people have tested positive and 948,397 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.

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Michigan's COVID-19 hospital admissions falling

USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, Feb. 27.

Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:

  • Last week: 1,310

  • The week before that: 1,572

  • Four weeks ago: 3,222

Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:

  • Last week: 68,999

  • The week before that: 81,263

  • Four weeks ago: 164,615

Hospitals in one states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in two states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in four 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.

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 Sturgis Journal: St. Joseph County reported 57 additional COVID-19 cases this week