DETROIT — Michigan has lost 35 more people to the novel coronavirus and 3,338 more people have tested positive for COVID-19, according to Saturday's update from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
Saturday's update is the highest daily case count the state has reported since Oct. 15 at 2,030 cases, which included some of the previous day's uncounted cases.
"In fact, more than 96% of the test results being reported today originated from specimens that were collected from individuals in the past five days," a state release read.
Twenty-seven of the 35 deaths were found later in a regular records review that determines if COVID-19 contributed to someone's death.
The state has a positivity rate of 5.39%, reporting 2,873 out of 53,272 diagnostic test results returned Friday were positive.
"The data shows we are continuing to see alarming increases in the incidence of COVID-19 infections in Michigan," Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, chief medical executive and chief deputy for health, said in a news release. "It is now more important than ever that people take this seriously."
"If rates continue like this, we risk overwhelming our hospitals and having many more Michiganders die."
The state's totals are now 7,182 confirmed deaths and 158,026 confirmed cases. There are 109,539 recoveries so far.
Michigan has a slightly decreasing fatality rate of 4.5% among known cases.
The state has reported 340 probable COVID-19 deaths and 17,586 probable cases.
The probable cases combined with the confirmed cases make for a cumulative total of 7,522 deaths and 175,612 cases.
