State reaches 11K deaths milestone

Little over week since Michigan marked 10,000

Michigan topped 11,000 coronavirus deaths Wednesday, a new pandemic milestone just slightly more than a week after the death toll in the state hit 10,000.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered flags around the state to be lowered to half staff to draw attention to the 10,000 death mark. That 10- day order remains in effect for another couple of days.

The latest daily tally of 4,037 confirmed cases and 88 deaths pushed the state’s cumulative total to 446,752 cases and 11,018 deaths since counting began when the pandemic erupted last March.

The new death total represents

roughly one death for every 900 residents in the state. The total number of cases indicates that about one in every 22 state residents has been infected with the virus .

cases and deaths continue to mount as the Christmas holiday approaches, and as vaccines are rolled out to frontline health workers, but the vaccines aren’t expected to be widely available until March or April.

State health officers and Michigan’s governor have urged people to avoid gathering over Christmas, and the epidemic order that temporarily closed indoor restaurant dining, stadium and arena events, theaters, and casinos remains in effect until Dec. 20.

Daily state virus numbers, though appearing to moderate, continue a pattern of being the highest in the more populated areas of the state.

In southeast Michigan, Oakland County had 410 new cases Wednesday and five deaths, Macomb County had 341 cases and one death, Detroit had 168 cases and three deaths, and

Wayne County excluding Detroit had 388 cases and 10 deaths.

Elsewhere in the state Kent County had 330 cases and no deaths, Genesee County had 196 cases and seven deaths, Ottawa County had 193 cases and six deaths, Washtenaw County had 114 cases and four deaths, and Saginaw County had 127 cases and seven deaths.

In rural mid Michigan, Clare County cases dipped to 11 with no deaths, Gratiot County had 32 cases and two deaths, and Isabella County had 32 cases and one death.

Also on Wednesday, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services updated its guidance to allow the vaccine to be given to people at age 16.

Vaccines are scheduled to be administered in phases with the first phase underway to inoculate frontline health workers and residents of long-term care facilities. The next phase will focus workers in essential and critical industries followed by individuals age 16 and older with underlying medical conditions and people older than 65. The last phase, expected in spring, is a mass vaccination campaign for everyone aged 16 and older.