by Andrew Roth, Michigan Advance
February 21, 2023
Michigan is reporting 6,547 new COVID-19 cases, according to a weekly report the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services released Tuesday.
That’s a small drop from the last report issued Feb. 14, when the state said there were 6,888 new cases for the week.
A total of 3,049,739 Michiganders have tested positive for COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, according to the department. In total, 41,809 people have died from the virus, with 89 deaths reported on Tuesday compared to 59 last week.
However, as home testing has increased since 2021, experts note that some cases are not being recorded.
The virus has been detected in all of Michigan’s 83 counties. The state’s COVID-19 fatality rate is at 1.4% as of Tuesday.
As of Tuesday, the state reported a total of 754 adults and 22 pediatric patients were hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases across Michigan hospitals, which was up for adults but down for kids from the previous week’s totals of 649 adults and 20 children.
The state also reported that 66 confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), which is 22 fewer than last week.
The first two cases of COVID-19 were reported in the state on March 10, 2020.
The community risk level for Michigan is at “low” following its increase to “medium” in early January.
Eight counties – Arenac, Bay, Iosco, Lake, Ogemaw, Oscoda, Sanilac and St. Clair – are at a “medium” risk level. The state’s remaining 75 counties are at a “low” risk level.
Johns Hopkins University reports that there are 674.2 million confirmed cases worldwide and more than 6.8 million deaths. The United States makes up a significant portion of those, as 103.1 million confirmed cases and 1,117,814 deaths have been recorded nationally.
Michigan currently has an overall vaccination rate (one or more doses) of 69.4%, putting it in the lower half of state vaccination rates. About 62.3% of the state’s population has been fully vaccinated. Just 36.6% of the state has received a booster dose, while 17% have received a Bivalent dose.
About 81% of the entire United States population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
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