COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations in Ingham County are at a record high.
Over the last week, 3,743 county residents tested positive and, as of Monday, 214 people were hospitalized with the disease.
The positivity rate is likewise at a pandemic high with about 30% of tests coming back positive, according to Ingham County Health Officer Linda Vail.
Although omicron is highly contagious compared to other coronavirus variants, it also appears to be relatively mild. Spikes in deaths and hospitalizations tend to follow case spikes, but Vail hopes omicron's mildness will temper that effect as hospitals become more and more strained.
“As high as our hospitalizations are — and they are — it could be a whole lot worse," Vail said.
Ingham County's COVID spike mirrors a statewide crisis; 4,580 Michigan adults were hospitalized with COVID Monday, a pandemic high.
Unvaccinated Michiganders are four times more likely to be infected with COVID-19 and 13 times more likely to die from it compared to the fully vaccinated, according to state dataspanning April through October 2021.
COVID infection rates in Ingham County are highest among people in their thirties followed by those in their twenties, according to the local health department. Vail attributes those disparities, in part, to the fact that younger adults are less likely to have the jab compared to older demographics.