Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By RICHARD JENKINS
Hurley — The Iron County Health Department reported eight new positive COVID-19 cases in Iron County Tuesday as the number of local cases linked to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic continues to increase.
Tuesday’s eight new positives bring Iron County’s total to 37 — 20 more cases than the county had a little over one week ago when health officials reported seven new cases had brought Iron County’s total to 17 on July 13. At the beginning of July, the health department had reported a total of seven cases in the county.
Of the 37 cases reported as of Tuesday, 18 of those are listed as recovered on the health department’s Facebook update — three more than reported Monday. There are zero cases requiring hospitalization, according to the health department.
Iron County’s only death related to the coronavirus was the county’s first case on March 26.
In Gogebic County, the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department reported Monday there were 36 positive cases in Gogebic County, with three more probable cases. The state of Michigan’s coronavirus website listed 33 — and later 34 cases — in Gogebic County Monday. Kate Beer, the health officer with the WUPHD, said the discrepancy could be due to the timing of when each entity updates its numbers or the state has incorrect address information for some cases.
Using the health department’s figure of 36 cases in Gogebic County, there have been a total of 74 cases in the five counties the Western U.P. Health Department serves, with another eight probable cases. Houghton has had 30 positive cases and the other five probable cases in the service area. Ontonagon County remains at a single case, Baraga County has had five cases and Keweenaw County has had two cases.
Of the 74 cases, 19 are considered recovered — including six in Gogebic County.
The state website categorizes the U.P. as “medium to high risk” on its Safe Start website.
Health officials continue to urge people to take precautions against the spread of the virus — including wearing masks or face coverings, practicing social distancing, frequent and thorough hand washing and staying home when sick.