Lenawee County’s community COVID-19 level has returned to low with a decline in new cases, but three more deaths were reported last week.
Meanwhile, neighboring counties also saw changes in their COVID levels, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
Lenawee County reported 194 cases and three deaths in the latest week, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. A week earlier, it had reported 280 cases and zero deaths. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 27,721 cases and 335 deaths.
Monroe County improved to the medium level, but Hillsdale County moved from low to medium, the CDC said. In the medium level, the CDC recommends people at risk of serious illness from the virus wear masks while at indoor, public places such as stores and theaters. Jackson County in Michigan and Lucas County in Ohio remain in the medium level.
Fulton County in Ohio joined its neighbor to the west, Williams County, and Washtenaw and Wayne counties in the high community COVID level. In the high category, the CDC recommends everyone wear masks while at indoor, public places regardless of COVID vaccination status.
The CDC uses the number of new COVID cases and hospital admissions in a seven-day period to determine the community COVID levels for each county.
Most of Michigan is in the medium level. The state reported far fewer coronavirus cases in the week ending Sunday, adding 19,414 new cases. That’s down 16.2% from the previous week’s tally of 23,165 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.
Michigan ranked 18th among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, the Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States increased 10.8% from the week before, with 654,873 cases reported. With 3% of the country’s population, Michigan had 2.96% of the country’s cases in the last week. Across the country, 16 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.
>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases
Within Michigan, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Iron County with 642 cases per 100,000 per week; Dickinson County with 313; and Huron County with 303.
Lenawee County was at 197 new COVID cases per 100,000 people and 7.5 new hospital admissions per 100,000 for the week ending Aug. 25, according to the CDC. The number of new cases dropped rapidly last week from a seven-day average of 268 new cases per 100,000 on Aug. 21. The most recent high mark was 311 new cases per 100,000 for the week ending Aug. 11. The COVID data-tracking website mistartmap.info said the seven-day average on Aug. 25 was 115 new cases per 100,000.
In Michigan, 135 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 103 people were reported dead.
A total of 2,751,201 people in Michigan have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 37,909 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 94,190,979 people have tested positive and 1,043,840 people have died.
Note: In the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus data, cases and deaths for the Michigan Department of Corrections and the Federal Correctional Institution separately from Michigan counties.
>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States
Michigan’s COVID-19 hospital admissions staying flat
USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, Aug. 28. Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:
- Last week: 1,322
- The week before that: 1,331
- Four weeks ago: 1,196
Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:
- Last week: 66,008
- The week before that: 66,216
- Four weeks ago: 72,118
Hospitals in 20 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 21 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 25 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.
The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.
