14th Isabella resident dies of COVID-19
Sunday night death is fifth in September
An elderlyman who was hospitalized with COVID-19 died Sunday night, bringing the county’s deaths to 14, with five in September.
September becomes the second month with five deaths. The first was April, when the disease killed four during an outbreak at the Isabella Countymedical Care Facility. Two died in March, and one each in June and July.
The number of cases inisabella County increased by 14 over the weekend, going from 621 cumulatively reported as of Friday afternoon to 635 on Monday. The county crossed the 600 casemark last Tuesday.
The elderlyman’s deathwas not connected to cases stemming from CMU’S return to campus. The university reported Monday morning that it’s cumulative case numbers increased by 16 last week, for a cumulative number of 233.
CMU’S numbers are narrowly focused on just cases that can be affirmatively linked to members of the university community. They do not reflect secondary infections caused by close contact with COVIDpositive members of the CMU community.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services updates school outbreaks every Monday. CMU is the only Isabella County school currently with an outbreak. While CMU’S official tally is 233, the state is reporting 320 undergraduate student cases and four cases among graduate students.
There are currently two school-related outbreaks in Gratiot County. The outbreak associated with Luce Road Early Childhood Education Center grew by eight over last week to 31, involving both students and staff. The previous week, the growth was 17. A declining number of new cases is commonly the profile of a cluster that has been contained.
The school was closed earlier this month, but reopened Sept. 18 based on the guidance of the MidMichigan District Health Department.
The state is still reporting 12 cases at Alma College, but the college’s COVID-19 dashboard on Monday reported 21 cumulative cases.
Gratiot County’s cumulative total number of cases Monday was 238, up seven from Friday’s 231. Fifteen Gratiot County residents have died.
Elsewhere in mid-michigan, an outbreak involving six students and staff at Carson City- Crystal Elementary. The Greenville Daily News reported over the weekend that amid the outbreak a 53-year- old woman suddenly died and may have been Montcalm County’s fifth death.
The paper reported that Mid-michigan District Health Department confirmed that a woman in her 50s died Thursday or Friday.
Montcalm County has 298 confirmed cases of the disease, up 14 over the weekend.
Cases at Ferris State University increased by 28, from 57 to 85. Mecosta County’s cases increased over the weekend by nine, from 193 to 202. Three people have died.
An outbreak at Midland County’s Northwood University increased by 16 over the last week, rising from 55 to 71. The county’s cumulative case numbers increased 15 over the weekend, from 499 to 514. Eleven people have died there.
There are also no school- related outbreaks in Gladwin County, where cases increased by five, from 84 to 89. Two people have died there.
There are no school-related outbreaks currently in Clare County. At 103 confirmed cases and four deaths, it remains unchanged over the weekend.
Statewide, another 1,308 cases were reportedmonday for a cumulative total of 122,735. Those numbers reflect that the state has stopped announcing numbers over the weekend. Those are a two- day average of 654 cases. Eight people died for a total of 6,731.