Genesee County, MI— Since last week, Flint and Genesee County have been marked as “high risk” for COVID transmission, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s risk metrics.
Recent data for the week of Aug. 22 shows that case positivity rate increased from 10.5% to 10.9%, according to a report by the Flint Center for Health Equity Solutions.
As demand for testing increases, case data continues to lag significantly. Testing labs across the state are backlogged, according to the FCHES.
Originally reported case counts for the week of Aug. 15 increased from 250 to approximately 320 for Genesee County, with 60 cases coming from Flint.
Current data for the week of Aug. 22 shows a decrease in cases from Aug. 15, but as new data emerges this number will “predictably increase” by next week, according to the FCHES report.
Missing race data also continues to increase, which limits health experts’ ability to “quantify racial disparities in COVID cases,” the FCHES said. Just under half of all cases reported in Flint for the week of Aug. 22 are of an unknown race.
Currently, 53% of Genesee County residents aged 12 and older have received their first dose, while 44% are fully vaccinated.
Health experts have made it clear that it takes approximately 2-3 weeks to have complete reporting on cases for any given week. Recently, the data lag has been more significant. This means that numbers may be notably higher than Flint Beat first reported for the previous week.