Nearly 6,900 new COVID cases reported Saturday

Michigan reported almost 7,000 new cases due to coronavirus on Saturday after a week of high case counts reaching about 8,000 per day this week, according to the state’s website.

The 6,892 new cases and 74 new deaths brought Michigan to 738,023 cases and 16,500 new deaths in total.

At least 57 of the 74 new confirmed deaths on Saturday were identified during a vital records review, which are conducted regularly by the state.

These counts exclude probable cases and deaths linked to COVID-19 and include only confirmed cases and deaths.

The number of cases have been spiking higher in more populated areas of the state, such as southeast Michigan, even as more and more people acquire vaccines against the deadly virus.

Wayne County had the most new cases on Saturday with 785 cases and six deaths, bringing the county to 54,634 cases and 2,195 deaths.

Macomb County next with 749 new cases and seven new deaths, totaling 75,533 cases and 1,960 deaths.

Oakland County followed with 83,989 cases and 1,978 deaths, after 861 new cases and 10 new deaths were cited.

And in the city of Detroit, new cases were 536 and new deaths were four, putting the city at 38,869 cases and 1,912 deaths.

According to Michigan’s website, at least 39.7 percent of the state’s population had been vaccinated as of Saturday, or 3,212,019 residents.

For several days now, Michigan has been in the national spotlight, having the highest rate of new infections in the country.

Since the arrival of April, the positivity rate has been above 15 percent for all but one day, dipping to 14.9 percent on Wednesday. The positivity rate — percentage of all tests coming back positive for COVID-19 — has exceeded 17 percent five times, topping 17.5 percent on Thursday.

For the first eight days of March, the positivity rate was between 3 and 6 percent. For the last week of March, it was between 10 and 15 percent.