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In Michigan coronavirus surge, more patients are younger and healthier.

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(CNN) Michigan is in another coronavirus surge and hospitals are again on the front line, but this time they have a new type of patient: younger and healthier. ...

Jim Dover, CEO and president of Sparrow Health System, a large health care provider in central Michigan, said two things are driving the current surge: pandemic fatigue and mutations in the coronavirus that have made it more contagious and possibly more deadly.
 
"This variant is more virulent, and so therefore more infectious, and so easier to catch," said Dover. "Second is everyone is tired of wearing masks, so you will go out and see a lack of social distancing, the lack of wearing masks. The virus is invisible and people did not know they're walking through a cloud of Covid, and next thing you know, they're infected."
 
Both the B.1.351 and highly contagious B.1.1.7 variants have been identified in Michigan, but the B.1.1.7 strain is now spreading throughout the community. The state health department has identified more than 1,200 instances of the B.1.1.7 variant. The actual number is likely much higher considering the difficulty in determining which variant is causing cases throughout the state -- the samples have to be sent to a state lab for time-consuming DNA analysis to determine the variant.
 
Michigan -- whose Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer, experienced severe backlash from Republicans, business owners and others over her ongoing coronavirus restrictions -- is fighting the virus on several fronts. Vaccinations are rolling out, with about 600,000 Michiganders getting a shot every week; the economy is reopening, with some restrictions being lifted; and many are returning to pre-pandemic life with no masks or social distancing.
 
The daily hospital admission rate based on a seven-day rolling average for younger age groups in Michigan is up over the same averages during the massive autumn surge. For instance, the Michigan Health & Hospital Association reports that among those aged 30-39, there were 26 daily admissions based on a seven-day average during the fall and winter surge, while today there are 43 admissions in the same age bracket. ...
 
 
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