Daily COVID Numbers Yo-Yoing Up & Down As Gov Extends Emergency To Sept. 4

When it comes to COVID-19 cases in Michigan, the statewide daily numbers haven’t been spiking upwards as of late. But they aren’t consistently moving down, either.

It’s been established cases generally went back up starting in July after hitting a low point in June. But since July, the cases have bounced up and down without really moving significantly in either direction. 
 
Looking at the average daily reported cases over the week-long period of Aug. 1-7, the average was 653 cases a day, including Friday’s report of 762 new cases and zero new deaths. 
 
The week prior, it was 726 cases a day.  
 
For July 18-24, it was 577 a day on average.  
 
Between July 11 and 17, it was 601 a day on average.  
 
And between July 4 and 10, it was 451 a day on average. 
 
When looking at the total case numbers reported over those seven-day periods, they go as follows: 
 
Aug. 1-7: 4,570 
 
July 25-31: 5,080 
 
July 18-24: 4,039 
 
July 11-17: 4,207 
 
July 4-10: 3,160 
 
Going back to the beginning of July, the daily cases reported never dropped below the 297 reported on July 6, and it never went higher than the 1,041 on July 26, but the state said that day’s totals were an outlier due to a software glitch. 
 
The next highest daily case report during this time was the 996 cases on July 29. 
 
However, every region in Michigan has seen an uptick in new cases over the past several weeks, and daily case counts in late July exceeded 50 cases per million statewide, according to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s office Friday, in announcing the signing of an order continuing the emergency and disaster declarations tied to COVID-19, now set to expire Sept. 4. 
 
The statewide positive test rate has also increased, from 2% in mid-June to 3.5% in late July, according to the Governor’s office. 
 
The statewide total for cases as of Friday is now 86,191 and for deaths it’s 6,247. 
 
Whitmer Friday also announced the signing of an order prohibiting employers from discharging, disciplining, or retaliating against employees who stay home when they or their close contacts are sick. Under the order, No. 2020-166, employers must treat employees who stay home when they are sick as if he or she were taking medical leave. 
 
The Governor noted she signed this order after the federal government allowed the $600 federal pandemic unemployment assistance for Americans to lapse at the end of July, putting pressure on more people to return to work even if they’re sick, according to Whitmer’s office.