GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Colder weather is driving the pandemic in the wrong direction.
That's according to one of the state's largest health systems, which is concerned about an emerging trend for which they now have a name: Michigan’s fourth wave.
Metro-Detroit-based Beaumont Health called a press conference Thursday to shed light on the situation as the state’s hospitals again neared capacity.
The designation came as Michigan recorded a 30-percent surge in case counts over the course of a week, according to the health system’s medical director of infection prevention, Dr. Nick Gilpin.
“This is our early warning system,” Gilpin related Thursday. “We're seeing community numbers increase. And I think with more cold weather on the way, with meet people starting to make plans for the holidays to get together. I think it's an important time just to let everyone know that we've got to stay vigilant.”
In West Michigan, Spectrum Health’s census of patients infected with coronavirus topped a six-month high, though the number fell short of the all-time high recorded in the spring of 2021.
Other local hospitals have recorded similar numbers:
Spectrum Health:
- November 11: 303 patients
- Spring 2021: 350 patients
Mercy Health:
- November 11: 97 patients
- November of 2020: 221 patients
Beaumont said it expected the surge to last four to five months and worsen as the weather turned colder, much of it, driven by the unvaccinated and outbreaks in K-12 settings.
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