Michigan surpassed 30,000 deaths from COVID-19 Wednesday as the state nears 2 million confirmed cases since the pandemic began.
The state added 18,803 cases and 327 deaths from COVID-19 on Wednesday, including cases from Tuesday.
The state averaged 9,402 cases per day over the two days, which is a 27% drop from a daily average of 13,000 cases reported last week.
Wednesday's additions bring the state's overall total to 1,999,416 confirmed cases and 30,170 deaths since the virus was first detected here in March 2020.
The state on Wednesday reported 2,966 adults and 73 pediatric patients were hospitalized with confirmed infections and about 82% of the state's inpatient hospital beds are occupied.
Adult hospitalization rates are declining from records set on Jan. 10, when 4,580 adults were hospitalized with COVID-19.
About 17% of the hospital beds were filled with COVID-19 patients and there were an average of 1,780 emergency room visits related to COVID-19 per day in the state as of Wednesday compared to 24% full and 2,889 emergency room visits due to the virus in the first week of January.
About 85% of COVID-19 hospitalizations are unvaccinated persons, compared to 15% of breakthrough cases.
The case counts continue to drop from early January when the state set a new high mark with more than 20,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 per day. The state surpassed 20,000 deaths on Aug. 15.
The dip lines up with modeling predictions that suggest the COVID-19 surge would peak at the end of January or the beginning of February, Lynn Sutfin, a spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services told The Detroit News.
"We are currently at an elevated plateau and will continue to monitor case rates, percent positivity and hospitalizations to determine if cases are truly declining," Sutfin said in an email. "We urge Michiganders ages 5 and older to get vaccinated or boosted if eligible as the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine is our best defense against the virus."
Henry Ford Health System officials also have expressed optimism over a slight decline in COVID-19 hospitalizations within the medical system and in its staff vacancies over the last two weeks.
Federal medical teams have been deployed to assist in the care of patients at Beaumont's Dearborn location, Henry Ford Wyandotte, Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids, Covenant HealthCare in Saginaw, Mercy Health Muskegon and Lansing-based Sparrow Health System.
Omicron variant driving rise in cases
In Michigan, variants of the virus are moving at a high rate, proving more contagious and infecting both unvaccinated and vaccinated residents.
Medical officials have recommended surgical or KN-95 masks as the omicron variant has been shown to linger on cloth masks.
The state, as of Monday, confirmed 1,904 cases of omicron by genetic sequencing at the Michigan Bureau of Laboratories in Lansing. The majority are in southeast Michigan.
Roughly 95% of cases of COVID-19 in the country are caused by the omicron variant, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
To manage the surge in Metro Detroit, Wayne County announced last week that it has partnered with the CDC and the City of Dearborn on a free COVID-19 PCR-only testing site at Ford Field Park. Click here for a list of all upcoming vaccine clinics and testing sites, sortable by date and location.
Michigan's latest data
Michigan percentage of tests returning has plateaued after increasing for the last four weeks. Illinois and Ohio have the highest case rates in the Midwest; California and Texas have the highest case rates in U.S.
Between Jan. 25-30, about 24.4% of Michigan's COVID-19 tests returned positive, a decline from 32.5% the third week of January.
About 65%, or 6.5 million, residents have received their first doses of a vaccine, as of Wednesday, and 58% are fully vaccinated.
