Nowhere does the coronavirus roar back more violently than Michigan. There are an alarming number of cases in the state, almost as many as in the worst pandemic.
Michigan has the highest number of new cases per capita in the country, 72% larger than the next highest state. Michigan’s positivity rate is almost three times higher than the national average. Nearly two dozen hospitals in the state are at least 90% full.
“The situation in Michigan is quite worrying. It’s just as bad as it was during the holidays. The variant is definitely one of the driving forces behind it,” said Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, said.
There is growing concern about what this could mean for the rest of the US
Government officials are begging the government of Biden for help. “We really encourage them to think about getting vaccinated in the state of Michigan,” Governor Gretchen Whitmer said.
But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said more shots might not be the solution. “If you have an acute situation, extraordinary number of cases, like we have in Michigan, the answer is not necessarily to give vaccine. The answer is to go back to where we were last spring, last summer, and around things. to close, “CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said Monday.
Whitmer on Monday extended workplace restrictions to allow people, as far as possible, to work remotely insist a two-week break on indoor dining room style, personal learning for high schools and youth sports. But these restrictions are voluntary. High school basketball championships were held over the weekend.
High school-age children in the state are much more infected than any other age group, and more than one in four are positive, including 15-year-old Niamh O’Connell.
“When I first got it, I was pretty upset about it. My case was very soft,” O’Connell said. “School is very important to me, but it stresses me out sometimes. The ability to play sports gives my body a chance to relax and just have fun with my friends and to have that break and then come back. go to my studies. ”
Student athletes in the state are tested every week.
“It puts a burden on us, especially to leave school and go sports like that, then go back home. And you’re like wow, that’s life now,” said Jacob Roman, a high school boy, said.
The variants that overtake Michigan now spread across all 50 states, with the B.1.1.7 or variant first discovered in the United Kingdom becoming the dominant one. A new study confirms that the variant is 35% more transmissible, but according to researchers, it is not more serious or deadly than the original strain.
“What happens in Michigan today could happen tomorrow in other states or other parts of the state,” Whitmer warned.