Michigan discovered 99 new COVID-19 outbreaks associated with schools last week, resulting in the infection of at least 412 students and staff.
Combined with the 129 ongoing outbreaks reported in previous weekly reports by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, the state is aware of 228 active school outbreaks, resulting in the infection of at least 1,730 students and staff.
The state health department updates its online school outbreaks report weekly, most often on Mondays. The latest report was published Monday, Sept. 20, with the data available to MDHHS as of Thursday, Sept. 16.
Since seeing the return of students over the last few weeks, schools have reported a significant increase in outbreaks and effected students and staff. Students younger than 12 aren’t eligible for a vaccine, and not all schools are requiring masks.
Related: See what Michigan public school districts have mask mandates
New outbreaks were identified in 36 counties. The largest new outbreaks involved 31 students and staff at Lakeview High School in Calhoun County, 14 students at James T. Jones Elementary in Delta County, and 11 students and staff at Morenci Middle School in Lenawee County.
While K-12 schools make up the majority of outbreaks, college outbreaks are typically responsible for the majority of individuals effected by the outbreak. The University of Michigan has the largest ongoing outbreak, with 446 effected students and staff.
Ongoing outbreaks, which include clusters identified earlier, but that had at least one additional case in the past 28 days, were identified in 39 counties.
Below is an online database that allows readers to search outbreak data by school name or by city or county. The number of those infected is a cumulative total since the original outbreak. (Note: Washtenaw County only reports cumulative totals for the past 28 days.)
Can’t see the database above? Click here.
Below is an interactive map showing both new and ongoing outbreaks listed in the Monday, Sept. 20, report. You can put your cursor over a dot to see the underlying data.
Can’t see the map? Click here.
A COVID-19 outbreak is defined as two or more cases with a link by place and time indicating a shared exposure outside of a household.
Outbreak data for K-12 schools includes only cases in which the student or staff was infected at school or at a school-related function. Those who caught the virus outside of school are not included.
In general, Michigan’s COVID-19 outbreaks jumped 31% over the last week, led be the spike in K-12 clusters. Other leading settings for known outbreaks include long-term care facilities, childcare/youth programs, and manufacturing/constructions sites.
The state includes this disclaimer with the data: “This information does not provide a complete picture of school-related outbreaks in Michigan and the absence of identified outbreaks in an educational institution in no way provides evidence that, in fact, that school is not experiencing an outbreak.”
For more statewide data, visit MLive’s coronavirus data page, here. To find a testing site near you, check out the state’s online test finder, here, send an email to COVID19@michigan.gov, or call 888-535-6136 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays.
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