34 New COVID-19 Outbreaks In Michigan Schools Last Week
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) has reported 34 new COVID-19 outbreaks in schools as of December 7th.
The new outbreaks are announced every Monday around 3 pm and this week showed a slight increase in the ongoing outbreaks, but at the same time, a slight reduction in the new weekly outbreaks. Last week, there were 260 ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks in Michigan schools, but this week that number has risen to 267 with the 34 additional outbreaks.
The 34 new COVID outbreaks in schools are the fewest amount of outbreaks in a week period since October, signaling that the curve is beginning to flatten even though the total number outbreaks increased,
The new outbreaks include 17 pre-school and elementary schools, 4 junior highs or middle schools, 11 high schools, and 2 administrator buildings.
The "Pause to Save Lives" order, that has all high schools, colleges, and universities conducting remote learning, has been extended through December 20th and will likely contribute to an additional decline new COVID-19 outbreaks.
As far as whether students or faculty are accounting for the bulk of the positive cases, it is unclear but appears to be a mixed bag. The way the state reports the positive cases is only whether they are from students, staff, or both. So, if there are 10 cases at a school and it affects both students and staff (listed as both), it does not determine how many cases are from students vs staff.