The data suggests that the elerly population is at highest risk of death as a result of contracting COVID-19. | Stock Photo
The data suggests that the elerly population is at highest risk of death as a result of contracting COVID-19. | Stock Photo
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) recently reported that Michigan has the sixth-highest number of COVID-19 cases and the fifth-highest number of COVID-19-related deaths in the U.S., according to Bridge Michigan.
The report came from Sarah Lyon-Callo, director of the Bureau of Epidemiology and Population Health at MDHHS, citing data from mid-November.
"We have the 10th-highest hospitalization rate, as percent of total beds occupied by COVID-19 patients, and the sixth-highest number of COVID-19 patients in the ICU (intensive care units)," she said in a Nov. 18 news conference, reported by Bridge Michigan.
Numbers are increasing at an exponential rate, with 48,757 new confirmed cases in the state for the week preceding the press conference. According to state data, it took Michigan more than two months to reach that number at the beginning of the pandemic back in March.
To date, over 350,000 Michigan residents have contracted the virus and more than 9,000 have died, according to Michigan.gov.
According to the numbers, COVID-19-related hospitalizations are doubling every two and a half to three weeks, and deaths are also on the rise.
"Cases and deaths are rising at all age groups, and among all racial and ethnic groups that we we record data for," Lyon-Callo told Bridge Michigan. "The mortality rate will continue to climb, even if we bring case rates down now. Mortality rates tend to go up a couple weeks after ... the case rates have increased."
Only one-third of those who test positive for the coronavirus report being in quarantine prior to their diagnosis, which suggests that "when people are most infectious, they are unfortunately not in quarantine and can be infecting other people," Lyon-Callo said, according to Bridge Michigan.
As of Nov. 18, there were 980 COVID-19 outbreaks under investigation, an increase of 32% compared to the previous week, with most outbreaks occurring in long-term care facilities, K-12 schools and sports, manufacturing and construction settings, college campuses, bars and restaurants, and retail, as well as social gatherings
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