Covid cases up 2,909.

New COVID-19 infections continued to trend higher in Michigan, compared to recent weeks and month, as the state reported almost 3,000 new cases on Monday.

The run of consecutive days withmore than 1,000 new cases also continued, as Michigan reported 2,909 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

The update on Monday covers two days with no report issued on Sundays, so the average for the Sunday and Monday report was more than 1,454 each day.

Michigan now has had 147,806 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, with 7,031 deaths.

On Saturday, the state crossed the 7,000-threshold of deaths confirmed to be tied to coronavirus. Monday saw 21 more deaths added to the tally.

The update from the state on Monday came on a day that the worldwide caseload topped 40 million. By mid-afternoon Monday, Johns Hopkins University reported that 40.24 million cases have been identified and 1.12 million people had died. In the U.S., nearly 8.2 million cases have been reported with just under 220,000 people dying.

Trending upwards

The numbers of new cases show the coronavirus is spreading, seemingly confirming fears expressed last week that a secondwave was arriving inMichigan.

Testing has continued to increase in the state, reaching a daily high of 60,800 on Oct. 15, one day after 45,000 tests were given. The next day, the number of diagnostic tests given topped 42,500. The daily goal has been 30,000 tests.

On Oct. 16, the positivity rate hit 5 percent, then 5.6 percent on Saturday, and 6.13 percent on Sunday.

Thefirsthalf of themonth sawthe positivity rate at between 3 and 5 percent.

As of Monday, the state had a current 7-day average of 1,619, almost 1,000 cases higher than the seven-day average on Sept. 19, one month ago, when itwas 621.

On Sept. 19, the state had seen 13,402 cases in the month, while so far in October, Michigan has seen 23,109 new cases.

Except for last week, when 1,809 cases were confirmed, for a daily average of just over 900, the state has added more than 1,000 cases 11 timesoutof 13days. In October so far, the daily caseload topped 1,000 cases 12 times, while September, that happened only twice, one of them the last day of September.

And two of the days in October has seenmore than 2,000 new cases.

“The number of positive #COVID19 cases and hospitalizations inMichigan have recently trended upward,” the state’s health department tweeted Oct. 16. “MDHHS, hospitals and local health officials are asking all residents to take steps to prevent a surge incases that could overwhelm the hospital systems.”

State and national health leaders agree that wearing face masks, frequently washing hands, and avoiding group settings, especially indoors, are keys to slowing the spread of the disease.

In total, when counting the probable cases, Michigan has had 164,123 cases and 7,363 deaths.

The largest increase was in the state’s prison system, with the Michigan Department of Corrections, where 402 cases were reported on Monday, pushing the corrections department to 6,245 cases. On Saturday, they were up by just 14 cases.

With in-person visitations suspended, the state last week announced an effort to allow virtual visitations.

Last week, the pilot program kicked off at the Parnall Correctional Facility in Jackson, WKAR public radio reported. Because they believe that stronger ties to family help an inmate readjust after their sentence and during their incarceration, the programwill be expended out to six more prisons next month.

Local trends

In the Detroit area, Oakland County added 265 cases on Monday to reach 18,683, following adding 112 on Saturday.

Macomb County added 215 cases to reach 16,147 on Monday, after having added 113 cases on Saturday.

Wayne County, excluding Detroit, added 215 cases as well, moving to 20,398, highest in the state, on Monday. On Saturday, it had added 100 cases.

And Detroit continued to add smaller numbers, a trend since summer after having led the state for the first months in total cases.

Also in southeastern Michigan, Genesee County passed the 5,000-mark when it added 103 cases on Monday, following adding 84 cases on Saturday. The county had 5,050 confirmed cases along with 975 probable cases.

In western Michigan, Kent County saw 314 new cases reported on Monday, following the addition of 144 cases on Saturday. Since Thursday, Oct. 8, Kent County has seen updates of more than 100 each day, for a total of 1,763 new cases. The county, which includesGrandRapids, is up to 11,762 cases, but it only has 174 deaths.