CDC: Michigan one of two states with COVID-19 testing positivity rate over 15%
Michigan has averaged 3,309 new confirmed COVID-19 cases per day over the past week, a 44% increase from the 2,297 daily case average reported the previous 7 days.
Michigan public health officials reported Wednesday 23,166 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 66 additional confirmed virus deaths over the past seven days.
The latest seven-day case total brought the state’s total confirmed cases to 2,150,625 and total confirmed deaths to 33,244 deaths since the onset of the pandemic. According to MDHHS, those new case and death totals represent data collected Thursday, May 5, through Wednesday, May 11.
As of Tuesday, a total of 1,572 omicron BA.2 subvariant cases have been confirmed in Michigan. MDHHS officials say the highly-transmissible subvariant is expected to continue causing a rise in COVID-19 cases with the largest increases seen in southeast Michigan.
Since April 10, the BA.2 subvariant has accounted for over 93% of the state’s positive COVID-19 tests that were sequenced by MDHHS, The University of Michigan, and other national reference labs. Over 63% of these subvariant cases have been confirmed in Macomb, Oakland, Washtenaw, and Wayne counties (995 total cases).
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is reporting that Michigan’s 7-day average COVID-19 case rate is 189 cases per day per 100,000 residents, up from 145 cases per day per 100,000 residents last week. That’s an increase of 30%.
The state’s 7-day average testing positivity rate is fluctuating between 15-20%, up from 10-15% last week, with over 126,000 COVID-19 diagnostic tests being performed over the past week, down from over 148,000 the prior week.
Michigan is one of only two states (Nevada) where the COVID-19 testing positivity rate is over 15%, according to the CDC.
Current case rates and hospitalizations, and increased access to vaccines, testing and therapies, indicate Michigan is in the postsurge recovery phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. MDHHS defines this phase as, “No immediate resurgence predicted. Local and state public health will monitor conditions that could lead to future surges.”
Community Levels
To determine if a community needs to strengthen their pandemic protection measures, the CDC looks at three key metrics including: new COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 population in the past 7 days, the percent of staffed hospital beds occupied by COVID-19 patients, and total new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population in the past 7 days.
These metrics are used to classify a county’s COVID-19 community level as low, medium, or high and are an indication of current strain on local healthcare systems. The levels are updated every Thursday.
In Michigan, as of May 5, the most recent update available, 63 of the state’s 83 counties have low COVID-19 community levels while the remaining 20 counties have a medium (19) or high (1) COVID-19 community level. Grand Traverse County is the only county with a high level indicating the pandemic’s significant strain on the local healthcare systems.
Hospitalizations
Statewide, there are 823 Michiganders hospitalized with confirmed positive COVID-19, a 24.5% increase from the May 4, total of 661 patients and a decrease from the Jan. 15 high of 4,578 patients. Around 75% to 80% of the state’s hospital beds are occupied.
Michigan’s 7-day average of total COVID-19 hospitalizations is 648, up from 551 the previous 7 days.
The 7-day average number of Michiganders admitted to the hospital for confirmed COVID-19 is 123, up from 96 the prior week and down from the peak of 615 the week of April 14, 2021, according to the CDC.
As of May 11, a total of 37 Michigan hospitals are still reporting critical staff shortages. This has remained steady over the last month.