(WWJ) State health leaders are predicting another big wave of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in Michigan this fall — and thousands more potential deaths.
Giving an update Wednesday, Dr. Sarah Lyon-Callo, Director of the Bureau of Epidemiology and Population Health at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, said that's "if" vaccination rates stay the same as they are now, and Delta is the predominant variant.
"The median model projections indicate that this fall will look at lot like last spring, with more than 4,000 deaths potentially occurring during the fall and winter," Lyon-Callo said.
Dr. Callo said, at the current rate, models estimate that hospitalizations will peak in late September, early October.
She added, however: "We can blunt that curve, according to this model, if we are able to increase vaccination rates to where we were in April, or if we're able to reduce the exposures we have in contacts with each other."
Related
This comes as MDHHS said more than 2,600 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Michigan over the past 48 hours, and 31 more deaths.
While MDHHS said 925 people are currently hospitalized with the virus statewide, Henry Ford Health System is worried about an uptick in hospitalizations in the Detroit area.
Henry Ford Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer, Dr. Adnan Munkara said, as of Wednesday morning, the health system had 88 patients in hospitals with COVID-19.
"In addition to these 88 patients we have another 15 or 16 patients who are suspected to have COVID and are waiting for their testing," he noted.
Also concerning, Munkara said, is an increase in people testing positive for the virus. On July 21, the health system's test positivity rate was 3.6%, and today it's 9.4%.
Statewide, Callo said the COVID positivity rate is at 7.7% ... as Michigan's numbers are becoming increasingly alarming.
"We're now at over 100 cases per million people," she said, "which is 600% more than we were when we were at our June 26 low."
"More than half of the counties in the state are at high transmission level, and most others are at substantial. And, just a reminder, this is where CDC recommends mask wearing by all individuals, regardless of vaccination status, while in indoor public spaces."
Related
Michigan's Chief Medical Executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun said, as the Delta variant is expected to have more of an impact on children, masking up in schools will be important.
Khaldun notes that child cases have been increasing in the last month, just as kinds who cannot be vaccinated are preparing to enter schools in large numbers this fall.
"I'm concerned about what is happening, or what could potentially happen with our schools," Khaldun said. "We have put out, or updated our guidance last week and specifically recommended that schools implement a universal mask requirement, so we can protect our students (and) keep them in in-person learning."
Health experts said, although rare, children can still experience severe outcomes with COVID - including having "long-COVD" and multi-system inflammatory syndrome, or MIS-C.
Get the latest information on COVID-19 in Michigan atMichigan.gov/coronavirus/. To find out where you can get vaccinated, visit Michigan.gov/COVIDVaccine.
Related
