Munson Healthcare officials met Tuesday to give their weekly COVID update as COVID-19 cases continue trending down.
Michigan is reporting a positivity rate of 17%.
With cases and hospitalizations dropping, Munson is considering moving down a level in their pandemic response plan.
Currently, Munson Medical Center is down to 50 hospitalizations, and demand for testing has also decreased.
Across the region, positive cases continue to decline.
Munson’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Christine Nefcy, says that although Michigan case numbers are higher then they’d like, the state’s positivity rate is decreasing nicely.
“We’re excited to see that,” Dr. Nefcy stated.
Grand Traverse County Health Department Health Officer Wendy Hirschenberger announced Friday that the Grand Traverse County Health Department was reporting 30 cases a day with one death.
“As of this morning we are down to 13.3% positivity. It dropped a couple percentages over the weekend,” stated Hirschenberger.
Some health officials on the call were worried that not all COVID-19 tests are being reported as at-home tests become more widely available.
With the decrease in hospitalizations, health officials believe the current case count is relatively accurate.
Moreover, although health officials don’t believe there will be a new surge any time soon, they are staying vigilant as the situation continues to change.
Hirschenberger thinks that the next surge could be an indication of a new variant, but says there isn’t a new variant in Michigan right now.
“Usually the variants are detected in lower Michigan before they are in northern Michigan,” Hirschenberger explained.
Leelanau-Benzie Health Department Health Officer Lisa Peacock believes that we’ve learned a lot from past surges, and should be better prepared for the next.
“The surges that we’ve had, including the recent Omicron surge, have taught us a lot about what we can anticipate in the future,” said Peacock. “Although each surge has been a little different, each variant has been a little different, there are some things that have stayed consistent.”
Peacock claims Michigan has tools now that we didn’t before to fight COVID-19, but Dr. Nefcy says some of those tools are currently hard to come by.
“Our treatment options for COVID-19 remain limited. We continue to have a very low, limited supply of monoclonal antibodies and still some supply chain issues with the oral anti-viral,” Dr. Nefcy stated.
While COVID cases and hospitalizations continue a downward trend in the state, Munson Medical Center could be taking a step back in their pandemic response.
Last fall, Munson Medical Center moved to pandemic level red for the first time in it’s history.
Part of the criteria for pandemic level red is a state disease positivity rate over 20%.
Michigan rose well above that within the past three months. However, the current positivity rate sits just above 17%.
With continued decreases predicted, Vice President of Communications at Munson Medical Center, Dianne Michalek, says an announcement could be made in the coming days.
“I can confirm that we are just finalizing some operational concerns and we will get information out to the public as soon as we are able to,” said Michalek.
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