KENT COUNTY, Mich. — Kent County saw its biggest uptick in coronavirus cases to date on Tuesday.
From Monday to Tuesday, there were 76 new cases reported, bringing the total to 626, according to state records. Kent County is experiencing an upward trend in new cases, with the previous record daily total of 47 being reported on Monday.
Across the state, numbers of cases are beginning to flatten out, but in Kent County, Dr. Adam London, the director of the health department, says the peak is still weeks away and residents should expect to see the number continue to climb.
The primary reason for the increase: More testing, London said.
"Our hospitals, private laboratories, Cherry Health are doing significantly more testing than they were a few weeks ago," said London. "At the beginning of this month, there were only a few dozen tests being done on a daily basis. We're now at a point where hundreds of tests are being done daily."
The state of Michigan recently opened a new drive-thru testing site at Cherry Health, and a lab in Grand Rapids has onboarded to help process up to 3,000 tests a day. London also noted that private companies like Rite-Aid are also offering COVID-19 testing, including at the Kentwood location.
"We're seeing an increase in tests being done, as we do that, it's no surprise that we're going to see an increase in cases identified," said London.
Testing is also increasing because the state of Michigan has expanded the criteria of who can get tested. Now, anyone with mild symptoms is encouraged to get a test and essential workers who may have been exposed can also get tested.
"I think we're seeing an increase in our numbers because our actual prevalence of this illness continues to increase," London said. The test positivity rate, which is the number of tests that come back positive for the virus, has also been increasing in the county.
"Early on, we were seeing a test positivity rate of 2-4% coming back positive," said London. "Now county-wide and region-wide, we're looking at 11% of those tests coming back positive. When we look at some of the more vulnerable communities, we are seeing a test positivity rate of 20-30%. So, all of those numbers are increasing."
The Kent County Health Department has made testing a priority among vulnerable populations like nursing facilities or homeless shelters with the help of the site at Cherry Health in Grand Rapids.
While southeast Michigan, which was initially a hotspot for the virus, is seeing its curve flatten out and the number of new cases drop, London said the curve will look different on this side of the state.
"We know that we are not at the peak yet here in Kent County," he said. "And while we have suppressed the curve a great deal, we know we are still a little bit on the upward trend and we probably still have a few weeks ahead of us of increases."
London said residents should expect to hear about small clusters of outbreak and surges in cases on a periodic basis for several months just because so many people are still susceptible to the virus.
"It's going to be a long a haul," said London.
As testing increases and the number of cases rise, London emphasized that this virus can infect everyone--young or old. He said there are three infants in the county that have tested positive for COVID-19; they are expected to recover.
"Please remember, this is not some other person's illness," said London. "This is an illness that can affect everyone, and we need everyone to work together to make it difficult for this virus to spread from person to person."
Watch the full update from the Kent County Health Department here:
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