Michigan reported 1,601 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday, January 23, continuing a downward trend in the number of daily cases.
The new cases marked the lowest daily total since October 21, when new cases registered 1,597.
Michigan Department of Health and Human Services officials reported 221 deaths from coronavirus on Saturday, but said that 205 were late additions to a routine review of death certificates across the state.
The drop in the number of cases comes as Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced on Friday that restaurants and bars could reopen for face-to-face dinners on Monday, February 1. The establishments will be under a 25% capacity restriction and must close until 10 pm
The percentage of positive cases rose to 5.84% on Friday, based on 49,830 tests. But the rate was above 10 percent on January 5 and the trend continues in a downward direction.
State health leaders at the start of the pandemic cited a “positivity” rate of 3 percent or less, indicating that the spread of COVID-19 is under control.
Michigan reports coronavirus recoveries once a week and Friday’s data shows that 463,106 people have recovered since the pandemic began in March.
The state has recorded a total of 548,069 COVID-19 cases and 14,291 deaths since March 2020.
The most recent hospital data show 1,823 people in Michigan hospitals with suspected or confirmed COVID-19, with 396 in intensive care units. Just over a week ago, there were 2,222 patients with coronavirus, 493 of whom were in the intensive care unit.
Saturday was the fourth time since January 12 that new daily cases have dropped to less than 2,000.
On Friday, the seven-day average for daily cases of COVID-19 was 1,838.
For more state data, visit the MLive coronavirus data page, here.
To find a test site near you, check your state’s online test finder here, send an email to [email protected] or call 888-535-6136 between 8 am and 5 pm on weekdays.
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