LOCAL

COVID-19: Death toll from pandemic in Greater Lansing grows to 53

Ken Palmer
Lansing State Journal

LANSING – Greater Lansing's death toll from COVID-19 has climbed to 53.

Ingham County reported its 31st and 32nd deaths linked to the disease this week.

The newest deaths involve men in their mid-80s and early 90s who had preexisting health issues, Ingham County Health Officer Linda Vail said Wednesday.

Eaton County reported its eighth COVID-19-related death last week, while Clinton County's death toll from the disease stands at 13.

The state on Thursday reported 16 new deaths linked to the new coronavirus, pushing Michigan's death toll to nearly 6,300. Nine of those deaths resulted from a records review and they did not all occur on the same day. Officials believe the virus was a factor in another 266 deaths in which a COVID-19 infection was not confirmed by a test.

The confirmed case count grew by 1,121 on Thursday, bringing the state's case total to nearly 99,856, including 9,464 probable cases.

Thursday's count was more than double Wednesday's number of 517.

Through Wednesday, the seven-day case average had remained mostly constant at around 720 over the past two weeks, according to an Associated Press analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University.

Among the counties with the most new cases per capita were rural ones such as Gogebic, Menominee and Ontonagon in the Upper Peninsula, but also urban places such as Macomb – just north of Detroit – and Saginaw.

Including probables, Ingham County had a total 1,588 COVID-19 cases as of Thursday, according to the state data. Eaton County had 465 cases and Clinton County had 430.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Contact Ken Palmer at (517) 377-1032 or kpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @KBPalm_lsj.