Covid Contraction in Michigan is Increasing

Georgia beat up Michigan Football and Coach Jim Harbaugh badly this last weekend. It was not even close. Michiganders take their football seriously, more seriously than contracting Covid.

Hospitalization for Covid increased dramatically in Michigan. According to the CDC, it is the delta strain impacting the unvaccinated Michiganders. The Republican dominated Senate and House shut down the Governor and Michigan Health Director’s ability to restrict public gatherings. This was before the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. And the state is in trouble.

CDC, Dr. Rochelle Walensky; While much of the world is focused on the new omicron variant, first identified in South Africa, delta is still a threat as “over 99 percent of sequenced cases in the United States continue to be from” the delta strain.

Stated at a Tuesday White House Covid-19 Response Team briefing.

Having the highest hospitalizations in the US when adjusted for population, Michigan’s hospitalizations are up 70 percent since Nov. 10. In the neighboring states of Indiana and Illinois, hospitalizations have almost doubled.

In Michigan, 3 of 4 hospitalized Covid patients are unvaccinated, according to Chelsea Wuth, an associate public information officer at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

Unvaccinated people make up 87 percent of Covid patients who are in an intensive care unit in the state, she said, and 88 percent of Covid patients who are on a ventilator are unvaccinated. More than 70 percent Michiganders age 16 and older have had at least one shot of a Covid vaccine, she said.

Dr. Matthew Sims, a physician and director of infectious disease research at Beaumont Health (Michigan’s largest health care system):

“almost all the Covid patients coming in are unvaccinated. Roughly 600 patients are sickened with Covid across the system as of Tuesday, noting the staff is exhausted.

We’ve been doing this for so long. It does get tiring to the nurses, the doctors, everybody when we see this huge number of patients that are all coming in that are not vaccinated.”

Meanwhile in the richest county consisting of 99% white residents in Michigan (where I used to reside), the county sheriff turned over a complaint to the county prosecutor for this comment.

“Hey Twitter, I’m back. I’d like you to meet Nurse Rebecca Skoczylas, who like Holly Austin also spread misinformation at the Brighton BOE meeting. I’m calling her Nurse E.Coli b/c she’s full of (you fill in the blank). @stjoes_health I believe she’s on your staff?)”

Apparently, the nurses in question were advocating mask-less student attendance at the local schools. Their claim was the masks do not work.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):

If you’re fully vaccinated and are in an area with a high number of new COVID-19 cases, the CDC recommends wearing a mask indoors in public and outdoors in crowded areas or when you are in close contact with unvaccinated people. People who haven’t been fully vaccinated should wear face masks indoors and outdoors where there is a high risk of COVID-19 transmission, such as crowded events or large gatherings. The CDC says that surgical N95 masks should be reserved for health care providers. Respirators such as KN95s and non-surgical N95s can be used by the general public when supplies are available.

The point is, no one really knows who is vaccinated or not. This is part of the problem which exists today. And it happens to exist more frequently in Republican parts of the country. Livingston County is Republican and has been for 27 years I know of. Early in December, less populated Livingston County’s with its ~190,000 residents had a higher contraction rate of Covid per 100,00 than the 8 times more populated Wayne County where Detroit is located.

Republican sheriff, Republican prosecutor, Republican judges; what more could I say. The cards were stacked against the person doing the calling out. Figuring there was not much of a case to go upon, they decided not to go to court.

6 states account for more than half of the country’s recent Covid hospitalizations (nbcnews.com)

Covid hospitalization hot spots across the U.S., in five charts (msn.com)

CDC: How well do face masks protect against coronavirus?

Wayne County, Michigan (MI) – COVID Vaccine & Risk Tracker – Covid Act Now