COVID-19 cases are flattening, but the holidays are still approaching

Health officials: Still too early to gauge impact of second statewide lockdown

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It’s still too soon to tell whether another round of statewide emergency orders that took effect last week in Michigan have done anything to curb a growing number of COVID-19 cases.

Ingham County Health Officer Linda Vail remained hopeful this week as caseloads appeared to be flattening across Greater Lansing, but she also recognized that Michiganians will still need to keep up their guard as the winter holiday season — and illicit social gatherings — continue.

“It’s too soon to see if this recent flattening is the result of the new order from the governor,” Vail told reporters Tuesday. “It is possible that as cases went up, people put their guard back up again.”

Last week, epidemic orders from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services restricted residential gatherings, closed bars and restaurant dining rooms encouraged employees to continue working from home amid an onslaught of new COVID-19 cases.

Since then, Ingham County tracked another 1,107 coronavirus cases and 11 deaths, adding to a statewide total of more than 320,000 cases and 8,700 virus-related deaths tallied since March.

Ingham County hospitals tracked 128 patients on Tuesday, with 20 in intensive care and 16 on ventilators. On Sunday, at least 41 people checked themselves into the hospital with COVID-19.

The rapid spike in cases reported earlier this month, however, appears to be tapering, Vail said. Still, she was hesitant to declare victory with residual effects from Thanksgiving gatherings (and upcoming Christmas gatherings) yet to be fully realized in Michigan. That could take weeks.

“This virus has been so difficult to track,” Vail added. “There have been many, many, many things about this virus that make me stop and go ‘hmm,’ and I have a degree in microbiology.”

Most of the cases reported in Greater Lansing — about 2,400 — have been tied to East Lansing in zip code 48823. South Lansing zip code 48911 has also tracked 1,051 to 1,060 cases.

In related news…

Vail said a football game between Michigan State University and the University of Michigan could be responsible for a spike in COVID-19 cases reported in the two weeks that followed it. At least 270 cases tied to MSU were reported between Nov. 2 and Nov. 13, which is when Vail said she would’ve expected to see an uptick — about two weeks after the game on Oct. 31.

Rite Aid expanded no-charge COVID-19 testing across Michigan this week in partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The latest expansion means that free testing is now available at Rite Aid’s self-swab testing sites to those 13 and older, regardless of whether they’re exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms. Pre-registration is still required at riteaid.com.

The Michigan Department of Corrections reported a record number of cases this month, logging a staggering 1,137 additional prisoner and staff cases on Nov. 12 alone. That spike reportedly marked an all-time high during the coronavirus pandemic, with nearly 5,000 infections last week.

A new report from Michigan State University shows that even though the majority of Michigan school districts planned to offer full-time in-person instruction in November, far fewer families actually chose this form of instruction. Additionally, districts with high proportions of Black and poor students were much less likely to provide students with daily in-person instruction.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer met with small business owners on Tuesday to discuss the Support Local campaign launched this week by the Michigan Economic Development Corp., as well as the impact that additional federal support would have on their businesses. All told, the MEDC financially supported more than 18,500 businesses since March, helping retain 147,000 jobs.

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