DETROIT — State health officials say Michigan is in a very critical place in this fourth coronavirus surge, with cases and deaths rising; hospitals at or over capacity and struggling to treat COVID-19 and other patients, and the omicron variant now confirmed in the state.
The strain is affecting everyone who may need access to care, with the state continuing to trend "in a deeply concerning direction heading into the Christmas holiday and the new year," Elizabeth Hertel, director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, said Friday.
"The situation in our state is critical right now. Cases are surging, hospitals are full and we have a new variant," said Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, the state's chief medical executive.
"I strongly urge all Michiganders to ... get vaccinated, get boosted, to wear a well-fitting mask whenever you are in indoor public settings ... and get tested if you have symptoms that could be COVID-19; get tested if you feel you may have been exposed; get tested before any unmasked gatherings. We're really at a critical place in this pandemic and it's really time for everyone to do their part."
The situation may be dire, but state health officials are not implementing mask mandates or any other restrictions, sticking to a public health advisory issued last month that recommends everyone over the age of 2 should wear a mask at indoor gatherings regardless of their vaccination status.
Instead, they are urging residents to get vaccinated or get their booster shot if they are over age 16 and more than six months past their last dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
Only 56% of the state's inoculation eligible population, age 5 and older, are fully vaccinated, according to the state's vaccine dashboard. That's below the national average, Bagdasarian said, with vaccination rates even lower among the 20- and 30-year-old age groups, as well as children.
She said low vaccine uptake will bring more severe cases and deaths and strain to the health system.
"And we simply cannot take this right now," she said.
Bagdasarian said COVID-19 cases are at an all-time high — and are higher than this time last year — and are expected to increase. She said hospitals are stretched to capacity with inpatient beds with COVID-19 patients at an all-time high of 21.5%. They never exceeded 20% in prior surges, she said.
Hertel said in the past seven days, those ages 30 to 39 were experiencing the highest case rates. About 2% of people who are fully vaccinated have been reported with a breakthrough infection, she said, and based on data from most health systems in Michigan, three out of four COVID-19 patients are unvaccinated.
"For individuals who have not yet been vaccinated, I want to be absolutely clear. You are risking serious illness, hospitalization and even death. Even people under the age of 65, including individuals in their 20s and 30s are testing positive and ending up in the hospital.
Bagdasarian said COVID-19 deaths are increasing, with 87 people dying of the virus each day in the last week. She said non-COVID-19 deaths also are higher than expected in this surge, a signal that hospitals are overwhelmed, making it harder to address other health issues.
State health officials said Friday that sometimes dozens of patients are waiting in the emergency departments, and some hospitals have had to close their emergency rooms for extended periods of time, which can affect you or your family's care.
Hertel said officials are working with regional health care coalitions and hospitals to supplement ventilators to meet the surge of demand in intensive care units. This includes deploying the state supply and requesting additional ventilators from the national strategic stockpile.
While three federal medical teams of about two dozen doctors, nurses and respiratory therapists each are being deployed to help treat patients at three hospitals in Michigan, Hertel said there are no more teams available to come to Michigan at this time as they are deployed in other states.
Teams have been approved for Beaumont Hospital, Dearborn; Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids, and Covenant HealthCare in Saginaw for at least 30-day stints to help care for COVID-19 and other patients, and to spell exhausted workers.
Five additional Michigan facilities have had requests validated by the federal assessment team, meaning they are eligible for consideration when the federal government has additional teams to deploy.
"Right now, every person in the state has the opportunity to drive our numbers back down, reduce the strain on our health care system and protect yourself," Hertel said. "Vaccines remain our best, most efficient tool to avoid COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations and even when it comes to more transmissible variants, like delta and omicron ... This is a crucial time."
Bagdasarian said Friday that the omicron variant has been detected in 25 states, including Michigan. The omicron case in Kent County was a vaccinated person who had a "mild illness," she said, adding that she could not release additional details about the person.
The new strain of coronavirus has an unprecedented number of mutations — as many as 32 to the spike protein alone, the World Health Organization reports. The changes have some scientists concerned omicron may be more easily spread than other variants and could be more likely to cause reinfections among people who've had a different strain of the virus.
The first known and confirmed omicron case was detected in early November in test specimens in South Africa and Botswana. Since then, it has spread quickly around the world.
On Nov. 26, the WHO gave the B.1.1.529 variant the name omicron, classifying it as a variant of concern. Four days later, the U.S. also recognized omicron as a variant of concern.
In the U.S., it may have spread during the Anime New York City Convention, where 53,000 people gathered Nov. 19-21.
Early evidence suggests omicron is even more contagious than the highly transmissible delta variant. In South Africa, omicron now is the dominant variant, overtaking delta within just a few weeks.
It is too early to know for sure whether the omicron strain of the virus causes more severe disease, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the chief medical adviser to the president.
He noted that early anecdotal evidence suggests it might not be as virulent as other strains.
President Joe Biden encouraged everyone who got vaccinated six months ago to get a booster "right away" ahead of a briefing he received Thursday on the omicron variant by the White House COVID-19 response team.
He said Pfizer announced that preliminary data shows three doses of its vaccine offers protection against the variant.
Biden said 200 million people have been vaccinated and 50 million people have received booster shots.
Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are working versions of their vaccines targeting the omicron variant.
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