Five more die over holiday weekend

MDHHS: Over 12K new infections per day on average recorded in five-day case count

Five more people died from COVID-19 during the holiday weekend across Isabella, Gratiot and Clare counties, according to the state’s latest numbers update.

Three of those deaths involve Clare County residents, bringing the county’s pandemic toll to 130. Based on a population of 30,926 people, four of every 1,000 Clare County residents have died from the disease since the pandemic’s start in March 2020.

One person each died in Isabella and Gratiot counties, bringing the total number of COVID-19 deaths in both places to 152. Three of every 1,000 of Gratiot County’s 42,476 and two of every 1,000 of Isabella County’s 70,311 residents have died from COVID-19.

No information was immediately available about the Clare and Isabella residents or whether they died in 2021 or 2022. Central Michigan District Health Department, which serves both counties, was closed for the holidays and is expected to reopen Tuesday. CMDHD also serves Gladwin, Roscommon, Arenac and Osceola counties.

Mid-michigan District Health Department, which serves Gratiot County, hasn’t released information on deaths of its member counties since before Christmas 2020.

Last year was the deadliest so far in Isabella and Clare counties, with deaths tripling the total number of deaths in both. In addition, the numbers of deaths are provisional and likely to change within 30 days of a specific date as the state processes new death certificates.

Monday’s update noted that of the 288 new COVID deaths reported statewide, that 172 were discovered during a review of death certificates by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

Because of that, it’s also not immediately known where COVID-19 will fall on a ranking of leading causes of death from 2021. COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death across all three counties in 2020, topped only by heart disease and cancer.

An additional 228 cases were

reported in Isabella County between Wednesday and Monday for a cumulative total of 9,860.

An additional 105 cases were reported in Gratiot County over the same time for a cumulative total of 5,824. An additional 76 cases were reported in Clare County over the same time for a cumulative total of 4,481.