COVID-19 case rate goes down in western UP

By ZACHARY MARANO

zmarano@yourdailyglobe.com

HANCOCK — The cumulative COVID-19 case rate for Baraga, Gogebic, Houghton, Keweenaw and Ontonagon counties has dropped for the fourth week in a row, according to an update from the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department on Friday.

The COVID-19 case rate per 100,000 population is 276.2 in Baraga County, 208.5 in Gogebic, 150 in Houghton, 182 in Keweenaw and 206.4 in Ontonagon, for a total of 185.2 cases per 100,000 population in the western U.P.

As of last week, the cumulative case rate for the five-county region was 298.6 per 100,000 population and as of Feb. 2, it was 634.4. The most recent weekly update from the health department to show an increase in the case rate was on Jan. 19, where the case rate increased by more than a third from 980.3 to 1,535.8 per 100,000 population in just seven days.

However, this week’s case rate is still almost double what the Centers for Disease and Prevention considers a high rate of transmission. According to the CDC, a case rate of 0-9 per 100,000 population is a low risk of transmission, 10-49 is a moderate risk, 50-99 is a substantial risk and 100 or more is a high risk.

In the last seven days, there were 24 new COVID-19 cases in Baraga County, 33 new cases in Gogebic, 55 new cases in Houghton, four new cases in Keweenaw and 13 new cases in Ontonagon, for a total of 129 new cases.

There were also three deaths to COVID-19 in Houghton County and one death each in Baraga, Gogebic and Ontonagon, for a total of six deaths across the five counties. This means that at least three people in the western U.P. have died with COVID-19 for 11 weeks in a row.

According to the Iron County Health Department, there have not been any confirmed COVID-19 cases or deaths in Iron County, Wisconsin since Feb. 9, but there have been six probable cases.