Michigan coronavirus rate drops 12.5 percent over last week

Michigan has seen a 12.5 percent drop in its coronavirus positivity rate over the past week, a sign of potential improvement in a state that has been hammered by a third surge of COVID-19 cases. 

On Wednesday the state reported 483 infections per 100,000 people, down from 551.8 per 100,000 people last week, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

By Thursday, this rate had dropped to 449.2 infections per 100,000 people in the state. 

Wednesday also marked the first time in nine days that coronavirus hospitalizations in Michigan dipped below 4,000, the same day the total number of cases surpassed the 800,000 milestone. 

According to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, there have now been 809,591 confirmed coronavirus infections in the state, with at least 17,139 deaths. 

Michigan’s most recent surge has rivaled the previous spike it saw in the fall when the state had more than 7,000 new coronavirus cases per day for 10 days. 

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), who faced a series of Republican-led lawsuits last year over her constitutional authority to impose lockdown orders during the coronavirus pandemic, has said that her state would not close down again. 

In October, Michigan’s Supreme Court ruled that Whitmer did not have the constitutional authority to continue extending a state of emergency amid the pandemic, which she had used to impose stay-at-home orders. 

Now, the governor is urging her constituents to follow health and safety guidelines and has also asked the Biden administration for more vaccines to combat the most recent infection surge. 

According to the Michigan health department, the state as of Thursday has had approximately 33 percent of its population vaccinated, or roughly 2.6 million people.