Cases jump by 610, death toll rises by 10

New infections see highest daily total since May 20

Michigan added 610 confirmed cases of COVID-19 to its tally on Wednesday, the highest number of new cases since May 20.

The state also added 10 deaths, pushing the total of confirmed deaths to 6,015. With probable cases, the death toll is 6,262 people killed after contracting coronavirus. While deaths remained low, compared to the two to four dozen deaths per day in late May and early April, the story in Michigan is about the increasing number of confirmed cases — though that number remains far below the large number of new cases per day in southern or western states as the U.S. caseload is now breaking daily records.

In terms of total cases, Michigan now has 67,237 confirmed cases along with more than 7,000 probable cases to provide an overall figure of 74,551 cases.

Nearly 1.2 million diagnostic tests have been given in Michigan.

The uptick in Michigan cases comes just after the United States saw its highest one-day total of new coronavirus cases, reportedly topping 60,000 on Tuesday, according to CNBC.com.

Just last week, the daily highs were topping 50,000 for the first time.

And on Wednesday morning, the U.S. topped 3.03 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University. By afternoon, the total was 3.023 million with more than 132,000 deaths.

Other headlines from around the country, reported by The Associated Press, include:

• Texas topped 10,000 new daily cases on Tuesday for the first time, the third state to do, following New York in April and Florida last week.

• The CDC reports that as of July 6, nine states had reported more than 10,000 new cases in just seven days.

• Oklahoma City hit a record of new infections at 858 on Tuesday, up from the prior high of 585.

• Louisiana added nearly 2,000 new cases on Tuesday, prompting a call to cancel all public school sports this fall.

Worldwide, by mid-afternoon Wednesday, the number of confirmed cases stood at 11.92 million with more than 546,000 deaths.

Michigan remained at 12th in the U.S. in the total number of cases.

On May 20, the state had added 659 cases of COVID-19, also reporting 43 deaths. At that time, Michigan had just passed 5,000 deaths and 53,000 cases.

Face masks

Local and state leaders continued to reinforce the need to wear face masks.

“This isn’t a new message, but it remains an important one, wearing a face mask does make a difference in stopping the spread of the virus; washing your hands makes a difference and so does social distancing,” County Executive David Coulter said on Twitter.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer retweeted a link to an article about a University of Washington study that says deaths nationally could hit 208,000 by November, but that total could be 163,000 if 95 percent of people wear masks in public.

“Wear a mask. Save lives,” Whitmer tweeted, emphasizing that doing so could save 45,000 lives in the U.S.

Details from Michigan communities

In the first eight days of July, 3,367 confirmed cases have been reported, more than double a month ago.

In the final eight days of June, 2,461 cases were confirmed, and in the first eight days of June, just 1,602 confirmed cases were reported.

Nine communities — eight counties and the state’s largest city — each added more than two dozen cases on Wednesday.

Wayne County, excluding Detroit, continued to be the area with the most new cases.

On Wednesday, it added the most cases, adding 108 confirmed cases to reach 10,752. In three days, the area, which includes Downriver, has added 222 cases.

The Wednesday number of new cases in Wayne County more than doubled the number of new cases in Detroit, which added 53 to reach 11,805, still the mostimpacted community in Michigan.

Also, in metro Detroit, Oakland County added 69 cases on Wednesday, moving to 9,244, having confirmed 140 new cases in the past three days. With 3,164 probable cases, Oakland County has a total number at 12,724 cases of coronavirus.

Macomb County continued its trend of seeing its new number in the 30s, this time right at 30 new cases, for a three-day total of 103 new cases over three days.

“We’re fortunate,” County Executive Mark Hackel said to his community via YouTube on Monday. “The numbers are still in the situation we want to see them in, and I mean very low... We’re glad that the curve has been flattened immensely.”

Hackel said he understands that tensions are high in Macomb County, as with much of Michigan, noting the county receives numerous calls from people wondering when certain places will open or else reporting some people not wearing face masks. He asks that people not be confrontational and to let proprietors encourage mask wearing.

Meanwhile, he said Macomb County health officials are confident they can handle any upswing in infections but he wants residents to remain cautious.

“It is still in our community and there is still community spread,” Hackel said. “Our health department is continuing to stay on top of that. And if there are cases, they are following up and doing contact tracing.” Hackel said other healthrelated issues need to be addressed in the county, overshadowed and overlooked because of the COVID-19 infections, such as suicides or opioid-related issues.

Other parts of Michigan

The second-highest number of new cases in Michigan on Wednesday came in Kent County, which added 71 new cases, pushing its three-day total to 173 new confirmed cases. Kent County topped 5,000 cases, ending the day with 5,014 confirmed cases and 442 probable cases.

Two other west Michigan counties added more than two dozen, with Ottawa County adding 27 to reach 1,100 and Kalamazoo County added 26 to reach 1,081.

Other counties with larger increases include Genesee (24) and Washtenaw (27).

Mid-Michigan saw only minor increases, with 16 new cases in Ingham County, now at 1,083. Smaller counties to the north added a small number of cases, but in recent weeks, they had seen days with no new cases. To the north, Gratiot County added four cases to reach 90, also adding another death to reach 14. Isabella County also added two cases to reach 116, and Clare County added two to reach 31.