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FLINT, Michigan (WJRT) – (03/30/2021) – Genesee County is seeing a steady rise in COVID-19 cases.
The county health department reports that the number of cases has risen to 200 per day, several days in the past two weeks.
The Flint region is ranked 4th in the country by the New York Times for where the COVID-19 outbreak is the worst currently relative to the population, 8th for where new cases are increasing fastest.
The Genesee County Health Department confirms, explaining that the most new cases are in people 18 and under.
“People have to go back to work, so the kids have to go back to daycare. You know, kids go to daycare after school, ”said Kayleigh Blaney, Genesee County deputy health officer. “So we know that children are much more than adults at this point.”
And while Blaney said children tend not to be as sick with COVID-19 – recovering much faster – the people to whom they transmitted it might not be.
She therefore hopes that children 16 and older will sign up to receive the vaccine when they are eligible next Monday.
“Fortunately, the vaccine distribution has been very regular, we were able to plan a little more in advance because we have a better idea of what we are going to receive each week, whereas for a little while there it ‘ was pretty uncertain, ”Blaney said.
But until then, she reminds the community to take health and safety protocols seriously.
“Even though we don’t necessarily see a huge spike in ICU stays or patients on COVID ventilators like we were in March and April of this year, we are still seeing these patients,” she added.
The coronavirus pandemic is not over and the county health department is still identifying the UK variant of COVID every week. But Blaney said pandemic fatigue, along with more adults receiving the vaccine, has allowed the community to return to normal life.
“No matter where you are – if you are going for spring break, if you are not going for spring break and staying at home – it is always very important to follow these masking and social distancing guidelines to try. to keep you from getting infected no matter what you do, ”said Blaney.
The Genesee County Health Department is asking, if you haven’t already, to register on their website or at your local pharmacy to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
They plan several weeks in advance now that they have a good idea of the type of vaccine and the number of doses they are getting.
So far, more than 154,000 doses have been administered in the county.
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