Michigan has 4,778 people hospitalized with COVID-19, with 502 on ventilators

On Friday, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) reported that a total of 1,746,707 Michiganders have tested positive for COVID-19 and 28,479 have died from the virus — an additional 37,114 cases and 251 deaths since Wednesday.

The new numbers combine Thursday’s and Friday’s recorded cases and deaths, with an average of 18,557 new confirmed cases per day. DHHS publishes COVID-19 data three times weekly on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

The deaths announced include 140 deaths identified during a vital records review. DHHS conducts this review process two times per week.

Michigan, along with Illinois, leads the Midwest in the number of COVID-19 cases.

The DHHS also reported Friday that 4,778 people are hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases. Of those individuals, 814 are in intensive care units and 502 are on ventilators. There are 140 children hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases.

Of Michigan’s 131 hospitals, a little more than one-fifth are operating with 90% or more of their available beds filled, the DHHS reported Friday. One hospital, Ascension St. Mary’s Hospital in Saginaw, is operating at 107% capacity.

Michigan’s percent positivity rate — meaning the rate at which people are testing positive for COVID-19 — is soaring. Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, for example, reported Thursday that it is seeing a 50% positivity rate — meaning one of two people going to the health system with COVID-19 symptoms are testing positive. 

Throughout the pandemic, rising positivity rates have typically translated to a rise in hospitalizations.

“Last week, the highest COVID positivity rate was among people ages 21 to 30,” said Dr. Adnan Munkarah, the executive vice president and chief clinical officer at Henry Ford Health System.

“This is impacting children, as well as impacting people in the young age group,” Munkarah continued.

DHHS also reported that an additional 237,349 Michiganders have been identified as “probable” cases for COVID-19, as well as 2,230 robable deaths. The department began tracking probable cases on April 5, 2020.

Combining the state’s confirmed positive cases with probable cases brings the total up to 1,984,056 statewide cases and 30,709 deaths.

The virus has been detected in all of Michigan’s 83 counties. The state’s COVID-19 fatality rate is currently at 1.7%.

As of Jan. 6, the state reports that 1,342,025 people have recovered from COVID-19.

The first two cases of COVID-19 were reported in the state on March 10, 2020. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency that day.

Johns Hopkins University reports that there are about 322.2 million confirmed cases worldwide and 5.5 million deaths. The United States makes up a significant portion of those, as 64.5 million confirmed cases and 848,074 deaths have been recorded nationally.