LANSING, Mich. — Right in time for the winter holidays, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) is documenting an increase in COVID-19 cases, reporting 602 probable diagnoses on November 27, the highest single-day case count in 2023.
"This is something we expected to see," said MDHHS Chief Medical Executive Natasha Bagdasarian, MD, noting that the coronavirus tends to spread during colder, drier months: "A Michigan winter."
In addition to higher case counts, the CDC also is reporting higher than average levels of SARS-COV-2 viral activity in Michigan's wastewater, a metric that's often seen as an "early indicator."
"It can actually be a sign that we [will] start seeing cases going up," Bagdasarian said. "But it really has to be taken in the larger context."
Despite the reported rise in cases, MDHHS says widely-available vaccines and widespread immunity should control Michigan's first official post-pandemic winter, following the federal government ending the COVID-19 public emergency in May 2023.
"Since it was an emerging pathogen and pandemic, [COVID-19] has really morphed into something that we call endemic," Bagdasarian said.
The pathogen that occasionally claimed the lives of more than 100 Michiganders per day in 2022, can, in some ways, now be considered similar to RSV and influenza.
"We expected to see this become more of a seasonal problem," Bagdasarian said. "Rather than something that was coming in what felt like very random waves."
Regarding the "big three" viruses, Bagdasarian recommends medical and age-appropriate vaccinations as a tool to protect against "serious complications."
"I think we have to understand that COVID is a health issue," she said. "It is nothing more than a health issue."
