(WXYZ) — The University of Michigan is postponing some surgeries to accommodate rapidly accelerating COVID-19 admissions.
Justin Dimick, the professor and chair of Michigan Surgery, said the entire state is high-risk.
We are starting to cancel surgical cases again to accommodate rapidly accelerating Covid-19 admissions.
— Justin B. Dimick (@jdimick1) April 8, 2021
Entire state is high-risk.
Bars and restaurants are open. People are out and about. No new restrictions.
We need some help @MichiganHHS @GovWhitmer @CDCDirector @aslavitt46 pic.twitter.com/jSEmZ8fKuj
Dimick called on the state for help as no new restrictions have been announced amid Michigan's surge in COVID-19 cases.
Michigan Medicine also released the following statement:
"Similar to many health systems across the state and metro region, Michigan Medicine has experienced record high emergency room and admission volumes for both COVID and non-COVID care this week resulting in extremely high hospital occupancy. Due to rising occupancy and forecasts for continued high demand for emergency care and admissions, Michigan Medicine has had to make the difficult decision to reschedule a small number of scheduled surgeries late this week and next week in order to maintain safe occupancy levels. For example, tomorrow Michigan Medicine is postponing three cases, which on an average day represents about 1.2% of all surgeries. We are constantly monitoring the evolving situation and will make further adjustments to ensure scheduling aligns with our staffing and hospital room availability with safety of our patients and staff always remaining our highest priority."
Michigan has reported thousands of new cases per day over the past week, and there are now more than 100,000 active cases of the virus in Michigan, the highest it's been since mid-November when a partial shutdown was announced.
Michigan hospitalizations for COVID-19 have jumped in the state across all age groups, up 360% since February 28, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
As COVID hospitalizations rise across Michigan, ICUs in several regions are nearing capacity, according to new data.
Additionally, the percent of inpatient beds occupied by individuals with COVID-19 has increased 203% since Feb. 28. Currently, 11.9% of beds are being used; trends for COVID-19 hospitalizations are increasing, officials say.
The current statewide COVID-19 positivity rate is the highest it's been since April 24, 2020, the state Department of Health and Human Services said Wednesday.
Percent positivity is up 348% and case rates are up 375% since the previous low on February 19. Currently, the rate stands at 15.6%.
Michigan has the highest number of cases and the highest case rate across the country in the past seven days.
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