New cases over 5,500 on Saturday

New cases due to coronavirus in Michigan topped 5,500 on Saturday, according to the state’s website.

Michigan reported 5,530 new cases and 69 new deaths due to the disease, putting the state at 785,307 total cases and 16,840 total deaths since the pandemic started last March.

As of Friday, a total of 603,094 Michiganders have recovered from COVID-19 (30 days out from onset of illness), a total which is updated by the state every Saturday.

The latest third surge in Michigan has thrown the state into the national spotlight, with cases remaining as stubbornly high as 9,000 or more per day this week.

The number of cases have continued to spike higher in more populated areas of the state, such as southeast Michigan, even as more people acquire vaccines against the potentially deadly virus.

According to the state, at least 29.6% of the state’s population had been vaccinated as of Saturday, or 2,393,122 residents.

Macomb County had 196,908 residents vaccinated, Oakland had 327,842 and Wayne had 267,195.

Pfizer vaccines make up 3,050,675 of that total, Moderna vaccines account for 2,520,191 and Johnson and Johnson vaccines are about 217,253, after being put on a national pause this week by the CDC and FDA.

In Oakland County, 825,202 vaccine doses have been administered, in Macomb County, 476,539 and in Wayne County, 659.909.

According to Johns Hopkins University, worldwide on Saturday, the number of global cases reached over 140.2 million with deaths crossing the milestone of over 3 million.

In the United States, over 31.6 million cases have been reported with over 566,000 deaths tied to the disease.

Michigan ranks as the ninth state in the U.S. with the most total number of deaths, with California as first. The state is also 11th in the nation in cases, Johns Hopkins says, with California as first.

Oakland County had the most new cases in Southeast Michigan with 796 new cases and 8 new deaths, making 90,119 cases and 2,008 deaths total.

Macomb County was next with 677 new cases and 10 new deaths, totaling 80883 cases and 2,002 deaths.

Wayne County followed with 615 new cases and 6 new deaths, creating 89,845 cases and 2,235 deaths in total.

The city of Detroit was last with 42,503 total cases and 1,938 total deaths, after adding 459 new cases and 6 new deaths.