Michigan's Sunday Coronavirus Update Higher Due To Backlog

MICHIGAN — Michigan reported more than 1,000 new cases of the coronavirus on Sunday, the first the state had reported more than 1,000 new cases of the respiratory illness since May 14. The state reported zero new deaths attributed to the virus.

However, state health officials said the 1,041 new cases reported on Sunday is higher than it would otherwise be due to a backlog in testing data from Friday and Saturday.

"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. "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."

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As of Sunday morning, Michigan has confirmed more than 78,000 cases of the virus, according to state data, while over 6,100 people in Michigan had died due to the virus.

However, the state, which reports a cumulative number of people who have recovered from the coronavirus each week, has reported that more than 57,000 people have recovered from the virus as of Saturday.

Sunday's report wasn't the first time the state has noted a testing backlog led to an exceptionally higher than normal number of new cases. The case said the same thing took place May 14 — the last time it saw a single-day coronavirus case increase of more than 1,000.

Related: Michigan Coronavirus Numbers Up Due To Testing Backlog: State

The state reported 1,191 new coronavirus cases that day, but later added that that day's report included cases from commercial labs Garcia, a lab with significant presence in Michigan's correctional facilities and corporate environment, Orchard Technology and P4. Results from those labs were being entered manually, which led to a backlog, and were then reported electronically into a statewide system.

The backlog in reporting did not result in delays of notification to individuals with positive results as those results were transmitted separately to health care providers who are responsible for notifying individuals about their test results, according to the state.