by: WOODTV.com staff
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The latest state data released Thursday shows Michigan has recorded 16 more deaths linked to coronavirus and on Wednesday confirmed an additional 645 cases.
Officials noted that 13 of the 16 deaths were discovered during a routine check of death certificates to find any that weren’t immediately reported.
The new data brings the total number of deaths to 6,101 and the total number of cases to 71,842 since the virus was first detected in Michigan in March.
Officials said the percentage of positive tests was 3.47%, a decline from the two days previous but still higher than health officials are looking for as the rate was between 2% and 3% through much of June before it began to rise above 3% consistently early last week. At the worst of the outbreak in Michigan in April, the positivity rate was around 40%.
In Kent County there were 56 newly confirmed cases, added to the overall 5,610 cases since the outbreak began and 142 deaths.
Kent County Health Department Administrative Health Office Adam London told News 8 Thursday, “We’ve also seen an increase in testing, but the positivity rate has increased as well. That’s concerning."
London added, "I am concerned that transmission has been increasing and we all need to buckle down in order to stop that from happening.”
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