MI Adds Nearly 1K New Coronavirus Cases, Blames Backlog For Spike

MICHIGAN — The state added nearly 1,000 new cases of the coronavirus on Wednesday, but officials said the number — which is higher compared to what Michigan has reported in recent days — is as high as it is due to another backlog of test results.

Michigan reported 996 new cases Wednesday, eclipsing the 80,000 case mark overall with 80,172 cases of the coronavirus confirmed. The state added two addition deaths attributed to the virus, bringing Michigan's coronavirus death toll to 6,172.

"Due to a backlog of test results received from a commercial laboratory, today's new daily confirmed case count contains approximately 300 that are attributable to older lab results," the state said on its coronavirus website. "These cases will be sorted based on the onset (or specimen collection) date in the Daily Case tab of the dashboard."

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Michigan reported 669 new cases of the coronavirus on Tuesday, while adding that 16 more people died due to the respiratory illness.

Testing back logs aren't particularly uncommon in Michigan, a state that reported 669 new cases of the coronavirus on Tuesday, while adding that 16 more people died due to the respiratory illness, and where testing backlogs have caused high single-day coronavirus case increases before.

In fact, on Sunday, the state reported more than 1,000 new cases for the first time since May. But the numbers were higher due to another backlog of tests.

"As reported yesterday, messaging system issues resulted in the delay of laboratory result referrals from Friday evening through Saturday morning," the state said in a message on the Michigan Coronavirus website at the time. "The issue has been resolved and the back-logged referrals have been processed. Today's new cases include a portion of referrals that would have appeared in Saturday's daily count, but had not been processed at the time of Saturday's report."

And that date in May in which the state reported more than 1,000 cases? The state said that, too, was due to a backlog after an issue with a testing site required manual data entry.

Related: Michigan's Sunday Coronavirus Update Higher Due To Backlog

Michigan ranks 15th in the U.S. in total cases of the coronavirus, according to data collected and provided by the World Health Organization. The health group reports that Michigan, which has previously ranked as high as third in the nation in deaths related to the respiratory illness, now ranks seventh in the nation in that category.

In the U.S., which leads the world in coronavirus cases, according to the World Health Organization, more than 4.5 million cases of the virus have been reported. The nation has reported over 152,000 deaths due to the virus, while reporting that nearly 2.2 people in the U.S. have recovered from the coronavirus.

More than 17 million cases of the coronavirus have been reported worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. Nearly 666,000 deaths have been attributed to the virus around the world, while over 10.5 million people have recovered from the virus.