State reports 27,423 new COVID-19 cases since Monday

On Wednesday, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) reported that a total of 1,933,062 Michiganders have tested positive for COVID-19 and 29,605 have died from the virus — an additional 27,423 cases and 379 deaths since Monday.

The new numbers combine Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s recorded cases and deaths, with an average of 13,712 new confirmed cases per day. DHHS publishes COVID-19 data three times weekly on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

The deaths announced include 268 deaths identified during a vital records review. DHHS conducts this review process two times per week.

The DHHS also reported Wednesday that 3,913 people are hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases. Of those individuals, 672 are in intensive care units and 394 are on ventilators. There are 114 children hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases.

COVID-19 hospitalizations are decreasing in the state, and the months-long surge of cases and hospitalizations that Michigan has been experiencing is at or near its peak, according to a Jan. 25 report from DHHS. The department said the number of Michigan hospitals reporting “critical staff shortages remains the highest during the pandemic,” which the federal government has attempted to alleviate with staffing support at six hospitals. Sixty hospitals in Michigan are reporting staff shortages, according to the DHHS.

DHHS also reported Wednesday that an additional 270,584 Michiganders have been identified as “probable” cases for COVID-19, as well as 2,380 probable 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 2,203,646 statewide cases and 31,985 deaths.

The virus has been detected in all of Michigan’s 83 counties. The state’s COVID-19 fatality rate is currently at 1.5%.

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 360.8 million confirmed cases worldwide and 5.6 million deaths. The United States makes up a significant portion of those, as 72.4 million confirmed cases and 874,002 deaths have been recorded nationally.