Coronavirus cases in Michigan continue their recent climb

More cases of the coronavirus but fewer deaths. That’s been the trend the past few weeks in Michigan and it continued Sunday.

The state reported 483 cases of COVID-19 and two deaths on Sunday. That brings the yearly total to 73,663 cases and 6,119 deaths.

Sundays usually bring lower new case totals than other days of the week. But the 483 new-case tally reported this week on Sunday was the highest Sunday total since May 31.

The number of cases last Sunday was 390 and 343 the Sunday before that. The number of cases last week was 4,232, which is the highest weekly number since early May.

During an appearance on “Meet the Press” Sunday, Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, Michigan’s chief medical executive, was asked about the rising number of cases in Michigan. She said people are gathering at churches, bars and house parties again as the state’s economy begins to reopen.

“The demographic has also changed,” Khaldun said of the new cases. “Before June, most of the cases we were seeing were in people over the age of 50, and now the top age group for new cases is in the 20 to 29 age group. So that’s something we’re concerned about.”

The number of new COVID-19 cases has been trending upward for weeks while the number of new deaths linked to the virus has remained relatively low.  Last week, the state reported 4,232 new COVID-19 cases, the highest weekly total in 11 weeks since 6,004 cases were reported the week of April 26 through May 2.

The percentage of COVID-19 tests bringing positive results also continued to inch upward last week, but the increase was smaller than in past weeks.

Last week, about 3.5% of the COVID-19 tests in the state were positive, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services data. The previous week about 3.4% of the tests were positive. The positive percentage — a key metric for monitoring the spread of COVID-19 — has been on the rise for six weeks.

But the weekly number of COVID-19 deaths reported last week — 50 — was the lowest Michigan has experienced since March.