Cases have increased in the state in the past month.
On Saturday, the state health department notified 8,413 new cases of COVID-19. This compares to 1,536 new cases registered a month ago, on March 3.
Cases have skyrocketed in the past month, with Michigan now experiencing the “most severe increase in viral spread in the country,” according to the Michigan Health & Hospital Association.
Hospitalizations have also increased, especially among young adults. From March 1 to March 23, hospitalizations increased 633% for adults aged 30 to 39 and 800% for adults aged 40 to 49, according to the association.
“I am very concerned about what we are seeing in the state of Michigan,” said Dr. Joneigh S. Khaldun, the state’s chief medical officer, to “Good Morning America” this week. “We have seen a significant increase in our cases in the last five to six weeks. Our hospitalizations are also increasing. And we are seeing that younger people, aged 10 to 60 years, are getting sick, and many of them are also being hospitalized.”
Khaldun pointed out the fatigue of COVID-19, including the lack of conformity with the mask, and meetings as contributors to the increase.
“I think everyone in Michigan really needs to double up now,” she said.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer referred to the increase this week as a “compliance, mobility and variant problem”.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the state currently ranks second in the nation for the most reported cases of the most transmissible variant B.1.1.7 discovered in the UK. On Wednesday, Michigan identified 1,468 cases of this variant, according to the state health department.
Whitmer and Khaldun emphasized the importance of vaccination at this point.
“We just have to be even more focused on our vaccination efforts,” Khaldun told “GMA”.
As of Monday, eligibility for COVID-19 vaccination in the state extends to all residents aged 16 and over.
In an interview with Detroit ABC affiliate WXYZ on Thursday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease specialist, postulated that the recent increase “most likely” may be due to Michigan’s opening very early.
“I hesitate to criticize anything the governor has done because she is a really good governor,” Fauci told the station. “I think the idea of retreating prematurely, under pressure, is understandable why you might want to do that, but the results, I think, are manifesting in what you are seeing in Michigan.”
Among the recently loosened restrictions, the state reopened bars and restaurants for indoor meals on February 1 with 25% of internal capacity and then increased to 50%, with a maximum of 100 people, on March 5. That day, they were also allowed to fill up to 50% of the capacity.
The order of state masks remains in effect, requiring facial coverings in public.