There were 5,616 new, confirmed coronavirus cases, an average of 2,808 a day, and 68 confirmed COVID-19 deaths reported Thursday, Sept. 16, and Friday, Sept. 17.
A week ago, the state was reporting a Thursday-Friday, two-day average of 3,047.
Of the new deaths, 36 were identified in a review of death certificates, done three times a week, and the case count represents new referrals of confirmed cases to the Michigan Disease Surveillance System since the last web update on Wednesday, Sept. 15.
Michigan, with schools back in session and a holiday in the rear view, is averaging 2,616 new, reported confirmed cases and 20 confirmed deaths per day over the last week, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. A week ago, the average was 2,110 cases and 20 deaths. (These numbers are calculated based on the day the state reports them, not on the day of death or onset of illness.)
This an increase from a seven-day average of 2,000 new, reported cases on Sept. 3.
Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 988,725 reported coronavirus cases and 20,665 confirmed deaths. Additionally, the state has reported 120,918 probable cases and 1,315 probable deaths, in which a physician and/or antigen test ruled it COVID-19 but no confirmatory PCR test, which detects the presence of a virus, was done.
Below is a chart that indicates the seven-day average for new cases reported per day throughout the pandemic. (Can’t see the chart? Click here.)
All of Michigan’s 83 counties reported new cases Thursday and/or Friday.
Dickinson County in the Upper Peninsula had the most new, reported cases per 100,000 people with 185. Berrien County in southwest Michigan followed with 182. Arenac County on the Saginaw Bay had 167, Delta County, also in the U.P., reported 163, and Isabella County in central Michigan had 149. Rounding out the top ten were Menominee (128), Cass (124), Ontonagon (120), Gladwin (118) and Hillsdale (112).
Without adjusting for population the counties with the most new cases include: Wayne with 646, Oakland (483), Macomb (433), Kent (417), Berrien (281), Ottawa (172), Genesee (171), Muskegon (160), Kalamazoo (156) and Washtenaw (154).
Twenty-seven counties reported at least one death in the last two days. Wayne led with 11. Macomb and Oakland counties each had seven. Ingham, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Kent, Muskegon and Ottawa counties reported three. Eaton, Grand Traverse, Hillsdale, Keweenaw, Livingston, Monroe and St. Clair counties reported two. Barry, Berrien, Charlevoix, Clinton, Genesee, Iosco, Lapeer, Marquette, Mason, Shiawassee and St. Joseph counties had one.
As of Friday, the number of eligible people who have received at least a single dose of COVID-19 vaccine moved up less than one percentage point, to 61.6%.
Cass County, long at the bottom of he list, at last reached 40% of its eligible population at least partially vaccinated.
Below is a chart that shows vaccination rates by county. (Can’t see the chart? Click here.)
As of Friday, Sept. 17, hospitals statewide were treating 1,472 patients patients with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19, with 385 patients in the ICU. Of those hospitalized, 30 are children and 189 are on a ventilator. The numbers are slightly down from a week ago, when there were 1,479 patients in the hospital and 390 in the ICU.
Of the 46,694 diagnostic tests processed on Thursday, Sept. 16, 8.1% came back positive for SARS-CoV-2. A week ago, on average, 9.7% were positive, but there were far fewer tests. On Sept. 12, there were 25,382 tests processed.
Can’t see the chart? Click here.
The chart below shows new cases for the past 30 days based on onset of symptoms. In this chart, numbers for the most recent days are incomplete because of the lag time between people getting sick and getting a confirmed coronavirus test result, which can take up to a week or more.
You can call up a chart for any county, and you can put your cursor over a bar to see the date and number of cases.
Can’t see the chart below? Click here.
The seven-day average of deaths in Michigan is 20. It was the same a week ago. (This average is based on the date reported by MDHHS, not on the actual date of death.) Deaths were headed down in June and July, but started creeping upward in August. This month, change in the daily average has been minimal.
At its worst last year, the state was averaging more than 130 new reported daily deaths. Numbers have been well below 100 since vaccines became readily available.
For more statewide data, visit MLive’s coronavirus data page.
To find a testing site near you, check out the state’s online test find send an email to COVID19@michigan.gov, or call 888-535-6136 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays.
Read more on MLive:
Why are COVID-19 cases on the rise with 61% of eligible people vaccinated?
New outbreaks reported at 69 Michigan schools in last week
Where’s the mask mandate? Parent coalition petitions Michigan government to require masks in schools
See what Michigan public school districts have mask mandates
What we know about the Mu variant, and why delta remains biggest COVID-19 threat
Threat of fourth COVID surge in Michigan hospitals is ‘very real’ without more vaccinations
Weighing the risks of COVID vaccines against the risk of the COVID virus