Michigan’s COVID-19 Cases Rise, Highest in Country
Just a few weeks ago, Michigan’s COVID-19 cases were among the lowest in the country. This has all changed in the last month, as thousands of people are now testing positive for the virus and variants.
Nearly 3 million Michigan residents have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and more than 4.7 million doses have been administered. But as vaccinations rise, COVID-19 infections also increase and the state now has the highest percentage in the country.
Michigan is the leader of the country in joint cases according to the population. At present, about 453 people out of 100,000 in our state have COVID. New Jersey is second with 352 per 100,000 MDHHS Senior Public Health Physician Natasha Bagdasarian said the state is experiencing its third wave and it is similar to what happened in November and December.
“Things are not looking good in terms of our current COVID status,” she said. “It’s a lot like our highlight we saw in the fall.”
Dr. Bagdasarian said the wave began to spread among teens and teens between the ages of 10 and 19. But now it hits 30, 40 and 50-year-olds hard. In general, they see more of those age groups filling hospitals.
“More elderly groups have been spared this wave somewhat and that is because of the vaccine. It shows that the vaccines are really, very effective,” she said.
The state has 1,500 B.117 variant cases and a handful of other variants. Dr. Bagdasarian said the more variants, the harder it is to control the spread.
“What we are concerned about, although some variants are already here, we do not want the additional introduction of these variants,” she said.
SPRING BREAK STORAGE
The medical community is booming after the spring, especially people coming from Florida. Travel agent David Fisherman says he was inundated with requests to the Sunshine States.
“The videos in Florida – it was like a spring break,” Fisherman said. “The phone rings off the hook. The pent-up demand is huge. People want to go.”
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Fishman and the doctor both say it’s a wide holiday mindset that contributes.
“To take greater risks during your trip and outside of your community. Will you eat out in restaurants while traveling, will you go to large events while on vacation?” says dr. Bagdsarian.
If you are one of the millions with the vaccine, you should wait two weeks after your second dose of vaccine to travel.
There is another trend that state health experts are monitoring, and that is the reluctance to be tested. They say if you are ill, have traveled or been exposed to COVID-19, you should do a test.
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