County Covid cases increase

Michigan reported far fewer coronavirus cases in the week ending Jan. 16, as new cases were down 11.7 percent from the previous week.

St. Joseph County has gone against the trend, however, as it reported 412 cases and four deaths in the most-recent week. A week earlier, it had reported 326 cases and eight deaths. Throughout the pandemic, it has reported 11,628 cases and 172 deaths. The local positive test rate is 37 percent. Just 44 percent of the population is fully vaccinated.

Cases fell in 28 Michigan counties, with the steepest declines in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties.

Many counties did not report data during the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, skewing some of the latest week’s statistics.

That data is being compared to a week with backlogged cases and deaths from the New Year’s holiday weekend.