State breaks single-day case record

5,710 new infections reported Thursday

Michigan reported 5,710 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, the highest single- day total seen since the onset of the pandemic.

November has seen a total of 19,626 COVID-19 cases in just five days. October’s numbers didn’t reach such levels until the 17th, with September’s numbers taking until the 28th. Throughout August, only 20,869 total cases were reported.

Additionally, 51 new COVID-19 deaths were reported in Michigan. However, 26 of those deaths were identified during a Vital Records review.

Whitmer sounds off

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer spoke at a conference alongside Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Chief Medical Executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun. The two spoke about Michigan’s current COVID rates, as well as future plans for dealing with the pandemic.

Whitmer said hospitalizations and infection rates have risen since her COVID-19 executive order was overridden, and that other states are seeing similar rises.

Whitmer said immediate action is needed “if we want to avoid looking like Wisconsin.”

Wisconsin saw cases in the single- digit numbers during early September, and saw nearly 4,900 cases Thursday.

Khaldun said Michigan’s numbers are on a similar trajectory, the the state may see as many as 100 deaths per day by late December.

“We’re seeing more than five times the number of new cases per day now than we’ve seen in early September,” Khaldun said.

“As many as 50 percent of positive cases we’ve investigated have no idea how they got the virus.”

Whitmer again urged Michigan residents to wash hands, wear masks in public, and keep a safe distance away from others.

The number of confirmed global cases is now 48.46 million, with nearly 1.23 million COVID-19 deaths reported.

In the U. S., 9.54 million cases have been confirmed, with deaths now totalling 234,300.

The United States remains the country with the highest total number of reported infections and deaths due to the virus. India has the secondhighest number of cases at 8.36 million, and the third-highest number of deaths with more than 124,000.

Brazil has the thirdhighest death count with 5.59 million, and the second-highest number of deaths with over 161,000.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United States has seen 27.2 cases per 100,000 residents in the past seven days.