CORONAVIRUS: No New Deaths or Hospitalizations as Positive Test Rate Rises in Washtenaw County

There were no new deaths or hospitalizations in COVID-19 data updated Thursday by the Washtenaw County Health Department, but the positive test rate continues to climb.

116 Washtenaw County residents have died with COVID-19. 457 people have been hospitalized.

According to the county data, there were 30 more people testing positive for COVID-19. Eight of those people were in Saline's 48176 zip code. These eight new positive tests were the first reported in Saline's zip code since Sept. 17.

COVIDActnow.org puts Washtenaw's positive test rate at 2.3 percent - the highest it's been since early August. The positive test rate has grown steadily since it was listed at 1.6 percent on Sept. 22. The state rate also increased by .2 percent to 3.0 percent. The same website estimated the county's ICU headroom share at 6 percent. This number measures the percentage of vacant critical care beds used on COVID-19. The state's ICU headroom share is 10 percent. Both numbers are unchanged since yesterday.

The State of Michigan reported 19 new deaths of people who had COVID-19. 11 of those deaths came after a search of vital records. 6,781 people with COVID-19 have died in Michigan. The state reported and additional 891 people tested positive for COVID-19.

Michigan has seen a rise in the number of patients in critical care beds. There are now 172 patients believed to have COVID-19 in critical care units. That number was at 135 on Tuesday. The number of patients on ventilators fell by two to 67. The number of pediatric patients with COVID-19 increased by three to 5.  Doctors believe three more pediatric patients have COVID-19.

More News from Saline

• BASEBALL: Reeves, Klein Lead Help Hornets Close Out Sweep of Pioneer. Noah Reeves pitched five shutout innings and Nolan Klein drove in four runs as Saline beat Pioneer 13-0 in a mercy-rule-shortened game at Pioneer Thursday.
• SOFTBALL: Dorr Helps Saline Ace Pickney Saline senior Karli Dorr crunched four hits, drove in four runs and earned the victory with a complete game against Pinckney on Wednesday.