Macomb County experienced a dramatic drop in Covid cases and deaths in February after dealing with a virus surge in December and January.
According to the Macomb County Health Department, 5,811 Covid cases were reported last month – a nearly 90 percent decrease compared to January. Deaths dropped in February by 73 percent, to 81 fatalities.
The Covid-positive tests recorded last month was at 11.1 percent, a much smaller rate than in January.
The numbers were the best news the county has received about the virus since last September. Over the course of the 2-year pandemic, the county has reported 203,128 cases and 3,467 deaths. Macomb reached the milestone of 3,000 deaths in early January.
The county data continues to demonstrate a gap – perhaps a lag – in death tolls as it has for many months. Macomb officials say total deaths are at 3,467; the state health department puts the fatalities at 3,832.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) deals with delays in records reviews. If a death certificate is matched to a confirmed Covid case and that record in the state’s system does not indicate that the individual died, the record is updated during a records review that’s conducted twice each week.
In addition, the MDHHS includes “probable deaths” in its Covid tally, which includes those who exhibited severe symptoms associated with the virus but did not receive a Covid test prior to death.
Preceding February, the winter months had exacted a terrible toll across the state and in Macomb County due to the outbreak of the Omicron variant of Covid. Some 336 Macomb deaths were recorded in December alone, when Covid test positivity rates among the populous reached 24 percent, followed by 35 percent testing positive for the virus in January.
The monthly rate of positive tests in the county shattered records in December and then jumped by another 62 percent in January, to nearly 60,000 people.
Statewide, Michigan added 2,105 Covid cases and 233 deaths from the virus on Wednesday including totals from Tuesday. The state reported an average of 1,052 daily cases over the two days.
The newest data, including additions from Wednesday, bring the state’s overall total to slightly more than 2 million confirmed cases and 32,050 deaths since the virus was first detected in the Great Lakes State in March 2020.
