Surge trends in ‘deeply concerning direction’

LANSING » Michigan’s COVID-19 surge is trending in a “deeply concerning direction” ahead of the winter holidays and, unlike a year ago, is not subsiding following Thanksgiving, state health officials said Friday while urging vaccines and booster shots.

Infection rates and hospitalizations are near or at all-time highs in the state 21 months into the pandemic. Vaccination rates lag the national average, especially among children and people in their 20s and 30s. Three in four patients hospitalized with the coronavirus are unvaccinated.

“Michigan continues to trend in a deeply concerning direction heading into the Christmas holiday and the new year,” state health director Elizabeth Hertel said. She warned that the omicron variant — the first case of which was announced Thursday in Kent County — may be be more transmissible than the delta variant that is pounding the state.

The state is deploying ventilators to hospitals and asking for 200 more from the national stockpile. More than 4,700 patients were hospitalized with the virus, including 4,500 adults with confirmed cases — a new record. More than 21% of beds had COVID-19 patients, a figure that never exceeded 20% in past waves, said Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, the state’s chief medical executive.