Isabella surge 2nd-fastest in U.S.

County ranks 13th-worst overall in terms of infections; youth interactions cited

Isabella County’s surge in COVID-19 cases is now the second-fastest spreading outbreak in the country and is the 13thworst overall, much of it driven by youth cases.

The county — represented as the Mt. Pleasant metro area in the New York Times COVID-19 dashboard — was listed as having the third-fastest spreading outbreak on Monday. It was also not on the Times’ list of 20 worst ongoing outbreaks.

Approximately 20 percent of the county’s new cases since midmarch have come from Central Michigan University, said Jennifer Morse, medical director of Central Michigan District Health Department.

The university reported an additional 27 cases on its dashboard on Tuesday and has a rolling seven-day average of 13.85 new cases per day. Those are raw cases, not weighted for population.

The two biggest age groups currently testing positive for the disease are the 10-19 and 20-29. What is different in this surge is that the oldest age groups, 70-79 and 80+, are now the age groups accounting for the smallest numbers of confirmed cases.

They fell as cases among children 0-9 have increased. While it’s been assumed that children younger than 10 aren’t getting the disease, that’s not really the case, Morse said. The latest antibody studies show that children do get the disease, but that it’s more frequently much milder or even completely asymptomatic.

One piece of good news is that vaccines are appearing to have some impact in cases among older age groups, with higher percentages of people fully vaccinated, Morse said.

So far, there are two confirmed cases of COVID-19 involving the B.1.1.7 variant, believed to have

originated in the United Kingdom last year. Those are just confirmed cases, however.

“We suspect there’s a lot more in the area,” Morse said, given at how quickly cases are spreading.

The presence of B.1.1.7 prompted CMDHD to order schools to lengthen quarantine times for staff and students from 10 days to 14.

The B.1.1.7 variant is definitely more contagious than the wild strain that has been around since last year, Morse said. While there is some speculation that it might be deadlier also, so far the data is inconclusive.

An additional 33 cases were reported Tuesday in Isabella County, bringing its cumulative total to 4,128, with 77 deaths. Twelve more cases were reported in Clare County, bringing its cumulative total to 1,549, with 68 deaths. Three more cases were reported in Gratiot County, bringing its cumulative total to 2,633, with 102 deaths.

Elsewhere in midmichigan, two additional deaths were reported, with new and cumulative cases and deaths as follows from over the weekend:

In Gladwin County, 21 new confirmed cases were reported for a cumulative total of 1,451, with 40 deaths;

In Mecosta County, an additional death was reported for a total of 24, and an additional 13 cases were reported for a cumulative total of 2,280;

In Midland County, one new death was reported for a total of 68, and an additional 48 new cases for a cumulative total of 5,223; and,

In Montcalm County, an additional 34 cases were reported for a cumulative total of 3,860.

Statewide, 58 new deaths were reported for a total of 16,297 and another 4,964 cases were reported for a cumulative total of 767,463. Of those 58 deaths, 16 were discovered during a state review of death certificates.