By Pat Maurer
Correspondent
With the first week of the new year coming to a close, the number of COVID cases in the Central Michigan Health District (CMDHD), in Michigan and across the country continue to increase.
The average number of new cases in Michigan from Monday to Wednesday reached a new record of 13,673 per day. Over the holiday weekend, from Thursday December 29 through Monday, January 3, the average number of new confirmed cases daily was 12,247, only slightly less than the two-day average at the beginning of the last week of 2021 when that average was 12,929, then setting the record for the highest number of new cases since the 20th of November.
The total number of cases in the State on Wednesday was 1,568,573 and the deaths, was at 27,286 statewide. Recoveries across Michigan, last totaled on December 29, were at 1,284,015.
In the CMDHD’s six counties the confirmed numbers on Wednesday totaled 26,668 cases, 21,147 recoveries and 593 deaths. The numbers for each county are:
*Arenac: 2,197 cases with 52 deaths and 1,720 recovered;
*Clare: 4524 cases and 133 deaths and 3,431 recovered;
*Gladwin: 3619 cases and 93 deaths and 2,789 recovered;
*Isabella: 9,982 cases and 156 deaths and 8,098 recovered;
*Osceola: 3,431 cases with 64 deaths with 2,789 recovered;
*Roscommon: 2,915 cases with 95 deaths and 2,320 recovered.
While cases are souring and hospitals across the state are overwhelmed with unvaccinated cases of COVID, and some schools in the mid-Michigan area are reporting another temporary shutdown on in-person classes and a return to virtual; the schools in Clare County say they are not planning a return to virtual learning and are “handling the situation.”
Clare Superintendent James Walter II said “As second semester got underway this week, we’ve been fortunate to be affected only mildly with a handful of Covid cases.”
He continued, “Of course, case numbers fluctuate daily, but by and large, school is operating as normal. We’ve found that most students & families appreciate our relatively calm and measured approach, and our kids need to be together with their teachers and fellow students – without that personal interaction, we’d be failing