Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By ZACHARY MARANO
HOUGHTON — The COVID-19 case rate for Baraga, Gogebic, Houghton, Keweenaw and Ontonagon counties has increased by more than 25% since Oct. 20, according to an update from the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department on Thursday.
“The case rate in the Western U.P. jumped from 350.2 cases per 100,000 population to 439.2. That included increases in all five counties. Houghton, Keweenaw and Baraga counties are all over 500,” the update says.
The COVID-19 positivity rate and case count in Houghton County are nearly double what they were over the previous seven-day period, according to the update. The positivity rate in the county went up from 9.34% to 18.3% and the case count went up from 128 to 210.
The 210 new cases in Houghton County contributed most to the total of 306 new cases in the five-county area between Oct. 20 and Wednesday, with an additional 45 new cases in Baraga, 20 cases in Gogebic, 18 cases in Keweenaw and 13 cases in Ontonagon.
There were no deaths in the western Upper Peninsula in the seven-day period, the health department says.
On Oct. 22, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services recommended booster doses for certain Michiganders who received the Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccines. Those eligible include people ages 65 and older, individuals ages 18 through 64 at high risk due to underlying health conditions and those at high risk due to occupational or institutional exposure.
“We must take every measure we can to protect Michiganders, and that now includes booster doses for the various groups who are now eligible to receive them,” said Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, MDHHS chief medical executive. “We know vaccines work and are the way out of the pandemic. The FDA has authorized a booster dose for some individuals to maintain and increase that level of protection. There is an ample supply of vaccines available, and we urge all eligible Michiganders to get their booster dose as soon as possible.”
A full list of groups eligible for booster shots can be found on michigan.gov/coronavirus. This list could be updated in the future, the website says.
According to Frontine UPdates, hospitalizations across the entire Upper Peninsula are down from 52 last week to 46 this week. The number of patients in ICU beds in the U.P. have also dropped from 20 to 15.
There were 13 confirmed cases and 11 probable cases in Iron County between Oct. 20 and Wednesday, the Iron County Public Health Department says.
