Just when it seemed like things were getting back to normal, COVID-19 cases are rising again in the state of Michigan.

The month of July for me was the most normal I have felt in a year and a half since the initial pandemic began in March of 2020. I spent a weekend at a rock festival, took my son to an amusement park and have not had to wear a mask in quite some time.

While I was on vacation, I did take a look at the news a couple of times on my phone, and noticed cases of COVID-19 rising in Michigan as well as around the country. This new delta variant seems to be moving across the state and nation at a much fast speed than the original strain.

According to MLive, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have announced that more than 1/3 of Michigan's 83 counties have transmission rates ranked high or substantially high. Meaning, we are not out of the coronavirus woods yet.

The 31 Michigan counties who have high cases and are continuing to rise are being asked to wear masks again regardless if you have been vaccinated or not. If you are going to be indoors around people you should wear a mask according to federal health officials.

99.999% of the cases are from people who have not been vaccinated but the delta variant is so strong that some who have been vaccinated can catch COVID-19 but its usually much more mild.

I have no problem wearing a mask, I actually keep them in my car and truck because I have felt that any day now, I may need to go back to wearing one. I think to be extra safe, even though I have been vaccinated, I'm going to go back to wearing a mask in stores and in crowds.

There are a lot of indoor concerts and sporting events that are beginning in September and I believe this is going to be a real test for Michigan and the entire country.

There are six counties in Michigan that have a positivity of 10% of their population. You may want to stay out of Alpena, Branch, Hillsdale, Huron, Kalkaska and Montmorency counties for a while until things calm down there.

Some other counties of concern are Allegan, Barry, Calhoun, Cass, Charlevoix, Clinton, Crawford, Delta, Grand Traverse, Ingham, Ionia, Iron, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Livingston, Macomb, Mason, Muskegon, Oakland, Ontonagon, Saginaw, Shiawassee, St. Joseph, Tuscola and Van Buren. These counties are facing substantial transmission rates and continue to rise.

Hopefully more people continue to get vaccinated to help slow these rising transmission rates down. So don't throw those masks away yet, we may be wearing those again sooner than you think.

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