Health

Michigan's Covid Deaths Account for 3% of U.S. Total

February 22, 2021, 7:00 AM by  Allan Lengel

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Family member mourns one a Detroit victim last August on Belle Isle. (Photo: Michael Lucido)

Michigan has recorded 15,362 Covid related deaths in the past 11 months, accounting for about 3 percent of the nation's total, which exceeds 500,000.

Statewide pandemic fatalities declined almost daily since Jan. 1, a state chart shows below.

Michigan's total of confirmed cases, 581,403 as of Monday, accounts for about 2 percent of the nation's nearly 28 million diagnoses. Michigan ranks 10th in population in the nation with just shy of 10 million people. (The state health department classifies nearly 530,000 cases as recovered.)

The number of Covid cases in Michigan has dropped dramatically since November. WDET reports that  Michigan’s case rates are down to 113 cases per million, an 85 percent drop since a mid-November peak. On Saturday, the state reported 635 new cases and 63 deaths. 

“We continue to move forward with a proactive public health response,” says Chief Medical Executive Doctor Joneigh Khaldun, according to the station. “This means isolation, quarantine and frequent testing whenever we identify outbreaks associated with the variant, so that we can slow the spread as much as possible.”

Michigan ranks 18th in the country in Covid deaths per 100,000 people, according to the website Statista. New Jersey is first, followed by New York and Massachusetts.

The Covid death count worldwide isd above 2.4 million, according to the World Health Organization.

With concerns about variants and when vaccines will be readily available to everyone, health care experts warn people to remain vigilant. Dr. Anthony Fauci appeared Sunday on CNN , warning Americans could be wearing masks into 2022.

"It's terrible, it's really horrible," Fauci said of the death toll.

The state of Michigan has continued to be vigilant. It recently cited 16 businesses for Covid workplace safety violations. 

One of those businesses was Belle Tire in Woodhaven. The state issued a $4,000 fine for not removing an employee from the workplace suspected of having Covid, no physical barriers and inadequately training employees on Covid safeguards. The inspection, the state said, followed an employee complaint. 


Michigan Covid deaths dropped on most days this year. (Graphic: Michigan Department of Health and Human Services)



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