COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – Statistics are showing that the number of new COVID-19 cases are going back up again after trending down for the last couple of months.
Health officials say the latest increase in cases is being caused by a mutant of COVID-19 called BA.2.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services says Branch County’s test positivity metric has climbed from two-point-one percent on April 26 to 12-point-four percent on Tuesday which puts the county back into the high risk category of the virus spreading.
The number of weekly cases per 100,000 went up to 78 for the period between May 4 and 10 which puts Branch County at the substantial level.
The Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency reported 11 new cases of COVID1-19 on Thursday which brought the total number of cases in the county since the pandemic began in March of 2020 up to 10,066. There have been 182 Branch County deaths attributed to the virus.
The Calhoun County Public Health Department said on Thursday they are starting to see an upward trend with recent COVID-19 cases but Calhoun County still remains in a “Post Surge” recovery phase. Within 24 hours, 25 new cases were reported in Calhoun County and there are three people in Calhoun County hospitals for COVID-19.
Health officials ask that any individual who tests positive for COVID-19 and/or displays COVID-19 symptoms without an alternate diagnosis or negative COVID-19 test should isolate at home for the first five days no matter what their vaccination status is. If symptoms have improved or no symptoms developed, those people can return to normal activities while wearing a well-fitted mask for the next five days to protect others.
The latest information from M.D.H.H.S. show that 81 of the 83 counties in the State of Michigan have gone back into the high risk level for spread of the virus.
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