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Emergency visits, wastewater data show uptick in COVID-19 cases in Michigan

By and FOX 2 Staff
Published  August 5, 2024 6:14pm EDT
Coronavirus in Michigan
FOX 2 Detroit

COVID-19 disease indicators rising in Michigan

MDHHS reports that COVID-19 disease indicators are rising – those indicators include wastewater and emergency department visits, but they’re increasing from a low level.

FOX 2 - There has been a nationwide uptick in COVID-19 cases and emergency room visits this summer, according to the CDC data tracker. 

"Many of the summer colds now are not rhinovirus (RV), which they used to be, they’re COVID," said Dr. Matthew Sims, the director of Infectious Disease Research at Corewell Health in Royal Oak.

In fact, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) reports that COVID-19 disease indicators are rising – those indicators include wastewater and emergency department visits, but they’re increasing from a low level.

"What they’re following right now is wastewater samples because that’s the only predictive thing that we have right now. People aren’t getting tested as often," Sims said. "If they’re doing home tests, we don’t know what the results of those are, and a lot of states aren’t collecting the data or reporting the data anymore."

But, Michigan continues to collect data and MDHHS continues to update dashboards on a regular basis. 

Sims says his department is are closely monitoring trends right now. 

"In Michigan, according to the CDC, we may be rising," Sims said. "We definitely saw a little bit of an increase, earlier, over the last few weeks, but right now it seems to be stable."

Since June, reported COVID-19 cases in Michigan began steadily rising. MDHHS data shows confirmed cases increased from 833 for the week of June 9-15, to 2,701 for the week of July 14-20. 

However, during the last full week of July, 2,571 COVID-19 cases were reported in Michigan, according to MDHHS's latest data.

The variant that is causing the recent uptick is KP.3.1.1. 

"KP.3.1.1 is the strain that's most common right now, and right behind that is KP.3.1," Sims said. "The difference between those strains is one mutation has spiked – but the two of those together is about 40% of all the cases out there."

Doctors say it’s always a good time to consider a COVID-19 booster.

"Unless you are immunosuppressed, they’re recommending the once a year booster around the same time you get the flu shot. We’ll see if it's going be the same booster this year or if they've changes it a little," Sims said. "They keep saying that the current vaccine still works."