Omicron Variant Reported At University Of Michigan And MSU

Anna Gustafson

Dec. 17

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) reported Friday that a total of 1,420,838 Michiganders have tested positive for COVID-19 and 25,824 have died from the virus — an additional 12,649 cases and 254 deaths since Wednesday.

Michigan has the third-highest number of COVID-19 cases and the sixth-highest case rate in the country this week, the state reported Tuesday. The overwhelming majority of the state’s cases continue to be the delta variant; so far, there have been six confirmed cases of the omicron variant in Michigan, according to state health officials.

There has been one confirmed omicron case in Kent, Oakland, Washtenaw, and Wayne counties, and two confirmed cases in Genesee County, according to the state. Omicron spreads more rapidly than delta, though it may cause less severe COVID-19 cases, according to scientists.

Both the University of Michigan and Michigan State University confirmed Friday that the omicron variant has been detected at their respective schools. University of Michigan said one omicron case has been confirmed at its Ann Arbor campus. The two schools also announced Friday that they will require all students, faculty and staff at each of its campuses to get a COVID-19 booster shot to reduce the spread of the virus.

The new numbers reported by the state Friday combine Thursday’s and Friday’s recorded cases and deaths, with an average of 6,325 new confirmed cases per day. DHHS publishes COVID-19 data three times weekly on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

The deaths announced include 159 deaths identified during a vital records review. DHHS conducts this review process two times per week.

On Wednesday, DHHS reported that an additional 191,490 Michiganders have been identified as “probable” cases for COVID-19, as well as 1,889 probable deaths. Those numbers have not been updated as of Friday afternoon because of “technical difficulties.” The Advance will update this story once those numbers come in. The department began tracking probable cases on April 5, 2020.

The virus has been detected in all of Michigan’s 83 counties. The state’s COVID-19 fatality rate is currently at 1.8%.

As of Dec. 10, the state reports that 1,146,495 people have recovered from COVID-19.

The first two cases of COVID-19 were reported in the state on March 10, 2020. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency that day.

Johns Hopkins University reports that there are about 273.4 million confirmed cases worldwide and 5.3 million deaths. The United States makes up a significant portion of those, as about 50.6 million confirmed cases and 804,938 deaths have been recorded nationally.

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