Nearly 4,000 new cases reported Sat.
For the fourth straight day on Saturday, Michigan added over 3,000 new confirmed coronavirus cases — closer to 4,000, according to the state’s website.
After a brief delay, the state announced 3,792 new cases and 31 new deaths, totaling 53,483 new cases and 578 deaths for the month of October in Michigan, well exceeding the benchmark of 50,000 new cases, even topping 53,000.
In total, this brings Michigan to 178,180 confirmed cases and 7,340 confirmed deaths on Saturday.
And, with 19,226 probable cases and 359 probable deaths, this means there are now 197,406 confirmed and probable cases and 7,699 confirmed and probable deaths in the state.
Probable cases include individuals who never tested positive for the virus, but who were presumed to be infected due to their symptoms and past exposure.
Similarly, a probable death is defined as those whose death certificate listed COVID-19 as a cause of death or a significant condition contributing to death.
The state said 20 of the 31 new confirmed deaths were identified during a Vital Records review, which are conducted regularly by the state.
These are regular reviews of death certificate data maintained in Vital Records reporting systems, which are conducted by MDHHS staff three times per week.
The systems compare records that identify COVID-19 as a contributing factor to death and all laboratory confirmed cases of the disease in the Michigan Disease Surveillance System (MDSS).
If a death certificate is matched to a confirmed cases, but the MDSS record doesn’t indicate the individual died, the record is updated to denote the death and the appropriate local heath department is contacted.
This is how the additional 20 deaths were added to the total on Saturday.
Averages and Totals
The 7-day average on Saturday continued to rise at 2,879 cases and about 23 new deaths added per day.
The 7- day total for this week was 20,154 new cases added and 158 new deaths, crossing the 20,000 mark for cases added in just one week.
Michigan ended the month of October with more total cases and deaths than previously seen in any other month since the start of the pandemic.
October’s totals average about 1,725 cases and about 19 cases added per day for the month.
In contrast, September ended with 22,219 confirmed cases and 278 confirmed deaths, averaging 741 new confirmed cases and 9 confirmed deaths per day for the entire month.
August added a total of 20,869 confirmed cases and 265 confirmed deaths, which is an average of about 673 confirmed cases and 9 confirmed deaths added per day.
October’s averages are also the highest seen since the spring.
Worldwide Outlook
Saturday’s numbers in Michigan are part of a recent national spike in COVID-19 cases, as the coronavirus continues to spread, especially in the Midwest.
“As of October 25, #COVID19 cases continue to increase nationwide,” the Centers for Disease Control tweeted this week. “Average daily cases in the previous 7- days increased 26% from the previous 7 days. Help slow the spread: Wear a mask, wash your hands, and stay 6 feet apart.”
Worldwide on Saturday, the number of cases reached nearly 45.9 million with deaths at more than 1.19 million, according to Johns Hopkins University.
In the United States, over 9 million cases have been reported with more than 230,000 deaths tied to the disease.
Johns Hopkins ranks Michigan as the tenth state in the U.S. with the most total number of deaths, with New York as first.
Michigan is fourteenth in the the nation in its number of cases, John Hopkins says, with California as first.
Testing
Health officials have also been tracking results of statewide testing.
To date, 5,282,297 total diagnostic and serology tests have been conducted within the state of Michigan. So far, 4,952,466 diagnostic tests and 329,831 serology tests have been conducted.
A diagnostic test looks for genes or proteins from SARS- CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. It indicates whether a person currently has the virus.
Serology tests look for the possibility of a previous infection by scanning for antibodies.
As of Friday, a total of 121,093 Michiganders have recovered from COVID-19 (30 days out from onset of illness), a total which is updated by the state every Saturday.