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Michigan
sees
virus
surge,
but
tighter
restrictions
unlikely
By
DAVID
EGGERT
and
ED WHITE
apnews.com
LANSING,
MI -
Michigan,
which
not long
ago had
one of
the
country’s
lowest
COVID-19
infection
rates,
is
confronting
an
alarming
spike
that
some
experts
worry
could be
a
harbinger
nationally.
In
what
public
health
authorities
across
the U.S.
have
been
warning
for
months
might
happen
around
the
country,
the
resurgence
is being
fueled
by
loosened
restrictions,
a more
infectious
variant
and
pandemic
fatigue.
While
vaccinations
in
Michigan
are
helping
to
protect
senior
citizens
and
other
vulnerable
people,
the
upswing
is
driving
up
hospitalizations
among
younger
adults
and
forcing
a halt
to
in-person
instruction
at some
schools.
“It’s a
stark
reminder
that
this
virus is
still
very
real. It
can come
roaring
back if
we drop
our
guard,”
said
Democratic
Gov.
Gretchen
Whitmer,
who does
not plan
to
tighten
restrictions
on
indoor
dining,
sports
and
other
activities
that
were
eased in
recent
months.
Michigan
last
year saw
some of
the
nation’s
fiercest
resistance
to
lockdowns,
including
armed
demonstrations
at the
state
Capitol
and an
alleged
right-wing
plot to
kidnap
the
governor.
Whitmer
contended
Thursday
at a
Michigan
Chronicle
event
that
this
surge is
different
from
last
fall and
spring
in part
because
of the
vaccine,
which
has been
given to
nearly
two-thirds
of
residents
65 and
older —
those
most at
risk of
dying.
COVID-19
hospitalizations,
though
higher
in
recent
weeks,
remain
below
the peak
from
December.
Still,
the
coronavirus’s
spread
is
concerning
at a
time
many
adults
have not
yet
gotten a
dose.
Over
the past
two
weeks,
Michigan’s
seven-day
average
of new
cases
per day
has
increased
122% —
the
largest
change
in the
U.S. —
rising
to 3,753
from
1,687,
the
biggest
jump in
raw
figures,
too. The
state’s
seven-day
per-capita
case
rate is
third-highest,
behind
New York
and New
Jersey.
Michigan
reported
more
than
5,200
new
cases
Thursday,
the most
in over
three
months.
The
death
rate has
been
steady.
“It’s
very
troublesome
and very
worrisome,”
said Dr.
Dawn
Misra,
an
epidemiology
and
biostatistics
professor
at
Michigan
State
University.
She
cautioned
that the
trend
should
not be
blamed
solely
on a
variant
that has
been
identified
more in
Michigan
than in
all but
one
other
state,
Florida,
noting
that
lags and
disparities
in the
amount
of
genetic
analysis
being
done on
the
virus
around
the U.S.
make
comparisons
difficult.
“We’re
doing a
lot of
things
that
lead to
increases
in risk.
That’s
where
it’s
coming
from,”
said
Misra,
who
urged
health
officials
to
emphasize
strategies
such as
double-masking.
Nationwide,
COVID-19
has
killed
more
than
545,000
people.
With the
vaccine
rollout
hitting
its
stride,
deaths
have
plummeted
to fewer
than
1,000 a
day on
average,
down
from a
peak of
more
than
3,400 in
mid-January.
New
cases
have
plunged
as well
but are
running
at a
still-worrisome
average
of more
than
57,000
per day,
and the
trend is
reversing
itself
in some
states.
Michigan
will
soon
require
regular
testing
of all
teen
athletes
amid
outbreaks
that
occurred
after a
monthslong
ban on
contact
sports
was
lifted.
About
100
teams
are
sitting
out the
boys’
and
girls’
state
basketball
tournaments.
And
some
schools
are
temporarily
closing
or
delaying
their
long-anticipated
reopenings.
The
Lansing
school
district,
which
has
10,000
students,
had
planned
to
resume
face-to-face
learning
for the
first
time
next
week,
starting
with
grades
four
through
six. But
the
reopening
was
pushed
off to
April
12,
after
spring
break,
because
of
rising
virus
cases in
the
community.
“We’re
back to
where we
were
right
after
Christmas
with
some of
our
numbers,”
Superintendent
Sam
Sinicropi
said
Thursday.
“I
understand
the
importance
of kids
being
there
and
staff
being
there.
But
we’re
going to
make the
call
because
of
what’s
happening
in our
area.”
Keith
Elementary
School
in the
Walled
Lake
district
suspended
in-person
instruction
last
week
because
of
suddenly
troubling
numbers
there.
“It’s
one of
the
things
that
keeps me
awake at
night.
We watch
the
numbers
like we
would
watch
the
stock
market,”
Superintendent
Ken
Gutman
said on
a
YouTube
video.
One
of
Michigan’s
largest
high
schools,
Utica
Eisenhower
in
Macomb
County,
stopped
in-person
classes
Tuesday
until
April
19,
after 40
students
tested
positive
and more
than 400
were
quarantined
as a
result.
“It’s
certainly
been a
yo-yo
ride,”
said
Susan
Milosavljevic,
whose
daughter,
Natasha,
is a
junior.
“We
aren’t
mad at
the
school.
They
have
been
taking
all the
precautions,
making
sure
students
are
wearing
masks.
Unfortunately
there
may be a
few who
test
positive.”
___
White
reported
from
Detroit.
AP data
journalist
Nicky
Forster
in New
York
contributed.
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