(WWJ) Health officials are announcing two record-breaking days in a row in Michigan — and it's not a good thing.
The Michigan Department of Heath and Human Services on Thursday reported 5,710 new cases. This was the first time more than 5,000 cases have been announced in a single day. There were 51 more deaths recorded, including 26 that were identified during a Vital Records review
This comes after MDHHS on Wednesday reported 4,101 new confirmed cases of the virus, along with 19 new deaths -- the first time more than 4,000 were recorded in a day.
The health department says Michigan now has exceed 197,800 total confirmed cases and 7,400 total deaths.
Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, chief medical executive for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, is concerned as the state's positivity rate continues to rise -- now over 7%
Speaking at a news conference Thursday, Khaldun said if things don't improve, Michigan could see a dramatic increase in deaths from COVID-19.
“We have models that estimate that, at the rate we’re going — if we don’t do anything else, if we don’t change our behaviors — we could be seeing up to 100 deaths a day by the end of December," said Khaldun.
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Khaldun said the 7-day average for deaths is up to 19, which is twice what it was at the end of September.
Hospitalization in the state are also ticking up, the doctor said. As of Wednesday, MDHHS numbers show 1,900 people were in the hospital in Michigan because of COVID-19. That’s nearly four times the number of hospitalizations at the end of August, Khaldun said.
As for where the cases are happening, Khaldun said local health departments are tracking 590 outbreaks across the state.
"There was a family that attended a birthday party, resulting in an outbreak of six cases," she said. "A wedding this fall resulted in 13 new COVID cases. We've (also) seen outbreaks at recreational facilities."
A total of 121,093 people who were infected in Michigan are now considered officially recovered. This statistic is updated once a week, on Saturdays. [MORE UPDATED STATE STATS HERE]