Western UP sees nearly 1,500 new COVID cases

By ZACHARY MARANO

zmarano@yourdailyglobe.com

HOUGHTON — Just two weeks into the new year, there have already been 1,456 new COVID-19 cases in Baraga, Gogebic, Houghton, Keweenaw and Ontonagon counties in 2022, according to the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department.

As of the health department’s most recent update on Wednesday, there have been 1,652 total COVID-19 cases in Baraga County, 2,572 cases in Gogebic, 6,132 cases in Houghton, 409 cases in Keweenaw and 832 cases in Ontonagon, for a total of 11,957 cases in the five counties.

Since the health department’s last update in 2021, there have been 80 new COVID-19 cases in Baraga County, 277 new cases in Gogebic, 525 new cases in Houghton, 19 new cases in Keweenaw and 95 new cases in Ontonagon.

There have also been four COVID-19 deaths in Houghton County, one death in Gogebic and one death in Ontonagon since Dec. 29.

“For the sixth straight week, we’ve seen at least three people with COVID-19 in the Western Upper Peninsula die,” the update on Wednesday says. “This week, it was three Houghton County residents, bringing the total in the county to 77. Regionwide, there have been 227 fatalities.”

The case rates throughout the region have more than doubled in seven days from 400.5 cases per 100,000 population on Jan. 5 to 980.3 cases on Wednesday. The case rates are over 1,000 in Baraga, Gogebic and Ontonagon counties. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention consider a case rate of 100 or more to be a high risk of transmission.

The health department is offering free COVID-19 testing on a weekly basis in Ironwood, L’Anse and Hancock. The clinics are open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesdays in Ironwood, Mondays in L’Anse and Monday to Friday in Hancock. Testing is located inside the Memorial Building at 213 Marquette St. in Ironwood, at 303 Baraga Ave. in L’Anse and at 821 Water St. in Hancock. No appointments are necessary and all of the services offered at these clinics are free.

There have been 76 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 11 probable cases in Iron County, Wisconsin, since Dec. 16, according to Iron County Public Health. There were 40 new confirmed cases and six new probable cases since the Jan. 5 update, for a total of 895 confirmed cases, 220 probable cases and 44 deaths.