Eaton County tracks ‘significant increase’ in COVID-19 cases in Delta Township

FRIDAY, Oct. 9 — The Barry Eaton District Health Department is tracking a significant increase in newly detected COVID-19 cases in Delta Township and elsewhere that began surging in September and continued last week.

Health Department officials announced yesterday that they’ve tracked an average of 20 to 30 new coronavirus cases over the last week — up substantially from an average of 5 to 10 new cases tracked daily over the summer months. At least 700 cases are now confirmed in Eaton County, the majority of which are centered in Delta Township on the outskirts of the city of Lansing. 

“We are also concerned by the rates of cases in each county,” officials said in a release.

Since the summer months, Eaton County climbed from a rate of about 20 daily cases per million residents to about 97 daily cases per million residents, officials explained. Some of these cases are associated with colleges or high school outbreaks, but the majority are defined as “community cases.” Officials said most have been tracked among working adults or retirees.

More than 3,800 cases have been detected in neighboring Ingham County, most at Michigan State University. A report released yesterday also shows hospitalization rates are also climbing. At least nine people are hospitalized in Ingham County with COVID-19.

Clinton County has also tracked more than 650 confirmed coronavirus cases to date. A total of 75 people have also now died from COVID-19 complications across the Greater Lansing region — including nearly 40 deaths tracked across the tri-county region over the last five months.