Nowhere does the coronavirus roar back more intensely than MichiganThere is an alarming number of cases in the state, almost as many now as during the worst pandemic.
Michigan has the highest per capita new cases in the nation, 72% more than the next highest state. Michigan’s positivity rate is nearly three times the national average. Nearly two dozen hospitals in the state are at least 90% full.
“The situation in Michigan is quite alarming. It’s just as bad as on vacation. The variants are certainly one of the drivers,” said Dr. Ashish Jha, Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.
There is growing concern about what that could mean for the rest of the US.
State officials are begging the Biden government for help. “We really encourage them to think about pushing vaccines to the state of Michigan,” said Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said more shots may not be the answer. “If you have an acute situation, an extraordinary number of cases, like we have in Michigan, the answer is not necessarily vaccination. The answer is to go back to where we were last spring, last summer, and shut things down. , CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said Monday.
On Monday, Whitmer expanded the workplace restrictions to allow people to work remotely like her, if possible insists a two week break for indoor dining, personal learning for high schools and youth sports. But those restrictions are voluntary. High school basketball championships were held on weekends.
High school children in the state are much more likely to be infected than any other age group, with more than one in four testing positive, including 15-year-old Niamh O’Connell.
“When I first got it, I was pretty upset about it. My case was super mild,” said O’Connell. “School is very important to me, but it gives me stress at times. So the opportunity to come and exercise, and it gives my body a chance to relax and just have fun with my friends and have that break and then again. to study. ”
Student athletes in the state are tested weekly.
“It’s a burden for us, especially when we leave school and like to go to sports, then go back home. And you’re so wow, this is life now,” said Jacob Roman, a high school student.
The variants overtaking Michigan are now spreading across all 50 states, with the B.1.1.7 or first-discovered variant in the UK becoming the dominant one. A new study confirms that the variant is 35% more transmissible, but researchers say it is no more serious or deadly than the original species.
“What happens in Michigan today could happen in other states or other parts of the country tomorrow,” Whitmer warned.