by: WOODTV.com staff
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — As as state health officials announced 584 new confirmed cases of coronavirus Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Tuesday also extended Michigan’s state of emergency
The newly released health department data pushed the number of total cases since the outbreak began in March to 70,306. The state also recorded six more deaths, bringing the total to 6,081.
Recognizing a steady increase in cases in the last three weeks, Gov. Whitmer extended the state of emergency through Aug. 11. The state of emergency order allows the government to take special actions to deal with a crisis.
Officials said labs in Michigan on Monday tested 20,458 samples for the virus and 823 came back positive. The number of positive tests and new cases is not the same because some people are tested more than once.
Data also revealed the percentage of positive tests was 4.02%. That’s the highest it has been since May 29, when it was above 6%. It’s also .15% higher than the highest rate of 3.87% within the last two weeks — including days when thousands more tests were run.
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