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Covid transmission rate (State of Michigan)

Michigan reported a total of 2,690 Covid cases for Tuesday and Wednesday -- or 1,345 per day -- and 46 deaths over the two-day stretch. Fifteen of the deaths were from vital records searches.

The lastest case numbers were slightly higher than the last report of 1,185 average daily cases for Saturday-Monday. The death count during that stretch was 19. The report before that one showed an average of 1,563 cases per day. 

Michigan health officials are expecting another surge unless more people get vaccinated. They say the much of the state is in "high transmission" status, due mostly to the Delta variant. They foresee a continued increase in hospitalizations and deaths over the next four to six weeks, and possibly longer.​

"We can blunt that curve if we can increase vaccination rates to where we were in April," state epidemiologist Sarah Lyon-Callo said Wednesday. (Watch today's press conference below.) 

The case rate per million has risen 611 percent since June 26, a low point.

To date, Michigan has confirmed 856 cases of the Delta variant.   

Below are some facts released by the state Wednesday:

►P ercent positivity (7.7 percent) is increasing for seven weeks and is up from 7 percent last week.

► Case rate (102 cases/million) has increased for over a month rose from 77.2 last week.

► Michigan has 30th lowest number of cases nationally in the past week (33rd in previous week) and 5th lowest case rate (9th in preceding week). 

► 99 percent of positive tests available for sequencing in Michigan were Delta variant in the last 4 weeks.

► Percent of inpatient beds occupied by individuals with Covid (4%) has increased for four weeks and now totals 845 adults with confirmed cases and 80 other suspected cases. Intensive care beds are filled by 232 confirmed and suspected Covid patients.

► Eleven children with confirmed infections are hospitalized statewide, as are eight suspected pediatric cases.  

► Deaths (0.6 deaths/million) are increasing (0.5 deaths/million last week). There were 41 COVID deaths between Aug 3 and Aug 9.

► Michigan has the 28th lowest number of deaths nationally in the last week (21st in previous week), and 16th lowest death rate (6th in preceding week).

►9.98 million COVID-19 vaccine doses reported to CDC, 4.95 million people have completed their vaccine series.