COVID-19: Deaths Rise as Positives and Hospitalizations Fall in Washtenaw County This Week

The spread of COVID-19 slowed dramatically in Washtenaw County this week. Unfortunately, the number of deaths also rose.

Each Friday, The Saline Post reviews weekly local COVID-19 data from state and county sources. Here's what we saw this week:

• There were six deaths this week compared to two last week and four the week before. This is the highest number of this wave - but it's far short of the highs seen in other waves (16 deaths in January and 21 deaths last April).
• There were 47 hospitalizations this week, down from 87 last week and 49 the week before.
• There were 732 positives this week, compared to 1376 last week and 1,026 the week before.
• There were 55 positives from Saline's 48176 zip code, compared to 80 last week and 68 the week before.
• The daily positive test rate was 2.48 percent to finish the week. That's the lowest number in Washtenaw County since March 20.

For the daily numbers, there was one new death in Washtenaw County - the 256th COVID-19-related fatality. There were seven new hospitalizations and 77 new positives. The positive test rate dropped from 3.03 percent to 2.48 percent.

The state's positive test rate fell from 12.05 percent to 11.1 percent - the lowest rate since March 25. There were 5,031 new cases in Michigan, according to the state. Michigan also counted 29 new COVID-19-related deaths, bringing the total to 17,168.

In Michigan's hospitals, there were 881 patients in critical care beds with COVID-19, 14 fewer than recorded the previous day. There were 530 COVID-19 patients receiving care with ventilators, 13 fewer than recorded yesterday. There were 54 pediatric patients with COVID-19 - four fewer than recorded yesterday.