Virus cases up by nearly 1,600
State now tops 150K confirmed cases
State leaders amplified warnings Wednesday that the growing outbreaks of COVID-19 throughout the state could bring more hospitalizations and deaths.
To highlight the worries, the state later reported another 1,597 cases of COVID-19 confirmed as well as another 33 deaths, themost deaths reported in a single day this month.
“Our numbers are climbing,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said. “We need to take this seriously. We need to double down on wearing face masks and physical distancing.
“We know more people will get sick. We know more people will be hospitalized. And sadly, more peoplewill lose their battle with COVID-19.”
As of Wednesday, Michigan has had confirmed 150,989 cases and 7,086 deaths.
The update on Wednesday came on a day that saw the worldwide caseload top 41 million and the deaths approach 1.13 million, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. In the U.S., cases topped 8.3 million and deaths neared 222,000.
Ten states have more than 200,000 cases, including neighboring Illinois,
which has had nearly 359,000.
Michigan remained 18th, just behind South Carolina.
Another neighbor of Michigan’s, Wisconsin has had more than 178,000 cases, ranking just behind Ohio and its 188,000 cases.
Whitmer noted the increased caseload with Michigan’s neighboring states.
“We arenot alone,” Whitmer said Wednesday, highlighting the recent spike in cases in Wisconsin. “If we are not careful and we do not all do our part, this could be our fate as well.”
The governor asked that people remember to wear
facemasks during any gathering, including at schools, inside businesses, and at sporting events.
Local trends
Southeast Michigan saw large increases in the number of cases onWednesday, as Oakland County passed the 19,000-mark. In western Michigan, Kent County passed the 12,000-mark in the number of cases with the state’s largest increase of the day.
In the Detroit area, Oakland County added the most new cases, 142 confirmed to push the total to 19,014. With nearly 4,600 probable cases, the county has seen a total of 23,608 cases. Deaths stayed the same at 1,177.
In Macomb County, 138 cases were confirmed to push the total to 16,412.
InWayne County, not including Detroit, the area added 132 cases to reach 20,689.
In Detroit, another 54 cases were reported for a total of 15,081.
Genesee County added 100 cases to reach 5,222, and Washtenaw County added 102 to reach 4,403.
Themost newcases were seen in Kent County with 185 new cases to land at 12,094. Neighboring counties saw smaller increases, with 35 new cases in Ottawa County to reach 4,311 and Kalamazoo County added 34 to reach 3,506.
Dr. Khaldunsaidthe positivity rate in the Kalamazoo area was 6.7 percent.
Ingham County added 45 new cases to reach 4,307.
Just to the north, Gratiot County added three cases to reach 359, Isabella County added seven cases to reach 836, and Clare County added two to reach 202.