Figures released by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services on Monday show continued improvement statewide among several COVID metrics, including hospitalizations. That trend is being seen locally as well, even as snowmobiling and Winter Carnival brought in visitors from across the region recently.
Houghton and Ontonagon Counties are now below 20 cases per 100,000 population on a daily basis. Houghton’s rate is similar to that seen in Metro Detroit and the Grand Rapids area. The state’s largest population centers registered omicron spikes at least two weeks before it arrived in the Copper Country, but have been slower to see a return towards normal levels.
The most recent figures from the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department cover a week period ending last Wednesday. The five-county area registered 129 new cases, down from 208 the period prior. That represents a 38 percent drop.