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Hillsdale County's COVID cases up 15.5%; Michigan cases surge 19.5%

Mike Stucka USA TODAY NETWORK
A flower is placed on a portrait of fallen Lee County Sheriff's Sgt. Steven Mazzotta at the Beyond the Call of Duty-Ride to Remember trailer wall at the Lee County Sheriff's Office on July 4 in Florida. Mazzotta died of complications of COVID-19.

New coronavirus cases leaped in Michigan in the week ending July 31, rising 19.5% as 19,653 cases were reported. The previous week had 16,445 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.

Michigan ranked 33rd among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States increased 7.4% from the week before, with 906,593 cases reported. With 3% of the country's population, Michigan had 2.17% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 28 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.

Hillsdale County reported 112 cases and one death in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 97 cases and two deaths. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 11,195 cases and 207 deaths.

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Within Michigan, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Keweenaw County with 425 cases per 100,000 per week; Baraga County with 341; and Branch County with 319. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.

Adding the most new cases overall were Wayne County, with 3,531; Oakland County, with 2,731; and Macomb County, with 2,045. Weekly case counts rose in 65 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Oakland, Wayne and Macomb counties.

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>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases

​ Cases fell in 18 Michigan counties, with the best declines in Isabella County, with 40 cases from 57 a week earlier; in Alger County, with 7 cases from 22; and in Gogebic County, with 41 cases from 56. ​

In Michigan, ​ 137 ​ people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending July 31. In the week before that, 149 people were reported dead.

A total of 2,672,312 people in Michigan have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 37,428 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 91,316,648 people have tested positive and 1,029,926 people have died.

Note: In the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus data, cases and deaths for the Michigan Department of Corrections and the Federal Correctional Institution separately from Michigan counties.

>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States

Michigan's COVID-19 hospital admissions rising

USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, July 31. Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:

  • Last week: 1,240
  • The week before that: 1,112
  • Four weeks ago: 860

Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:

  • Last week: 75,143
  • The week before that: 73,476
  • Four weeks ago: 63,312

Hospitals in 24 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 21 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 30 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.

The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.