COVID cases jump, just above last year’s levels

Houghton County COVID activity boomed in the week ending September 15th. Cases surged from 19 to 64, and the five-county district of the WUPHD was up by 175 percent overall. However, that puts the numbers right about where they were in 2020. The New York Times COVID tracker for the county shows Houghton was averaging over eight cases per day a year ago, which would translate to the upper-50’s for a week period. By the end of the month, cases would more triple, so the extent to which natural immunity may provide some protection for the area this year as we enter a rough seasonal period for the disease can’t be known yet.

Baraga County had 23 cases and Keweenaw chipped in with five. Adjusting for population, all three jurisdictions are classified as high transmission. The full table from the health department is below.

There were two deaths in Houghton County and one in Baraga associated with COVID.