In Lansing, the coronavirus surge has hit the hospitals.
The Ingham County Health Department is reporting the highest rate of hospitalization it has seen throughout the pandemic.
"As of this morning, we had 124 COVID positive cases at Sparrow Hospital and 15 more at our community hospitals," Sparrow Health's Spokesperson John Foren said Tuesday.
"I am hopeful that we are making it through our last major surge in this pandemic with how fast we're vaccinating," Ingham County Health Officer Linda Vail said.
Sparrow Health announced they’re increasing the use of monoclonal antibody therapy treatments in an effort to decrease the amount of time eligible COVID-19 patients stay in hospitals.
“Sparrow doubled its infusion treatments last week and now has the ability to deliver a maximum of 60 a day across the health system,” Sparrow said in a press release Monday.
The move to increased antibody treatment will reach Sparrow facilities in Clinton and Eaton Counties on April 27.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer advocated for the increased use of antibody therapies following the Federal Drug Administration’s approval of monoclonal antibody therapies from Regeneron and the Eli Lily Company for emergency use in the U.S.
As cases across the state continue to skyrocket, making Michigan one of the worst outbreaks in the nation, all eyes are on mass vaccination efforts.
Ingham County has opened up vaccinations to residents of surrounding counties in an effort to distribute more of the vaccine faster. The Ingham County Health Department is 65 percent of the way towards meeting its goal of vaccinating 70% of the eligible people based on herd immunity guidelines.
In the past week, the state identified 37,317 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 302 confirmed coronavirus deaths. More than 2,000 of those new cases were identified right here, in our mid-Michigan neighborhoods.
Clinton County confirmed 76 new COVID cases and one new COVID death since April 13. Eaton County added 142 confirmed cases and two deaths. Jackson County added 200 confirmed cases and one death connected to the virus. Ingham County topped local totals identifying 341 confirmed cases and five deaths in the past seven days.
“We’re in the midst of another surge,” Vail said Tuesday.
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