ESCANABA — A fresh wave of COVID-19 infections is hitting the nation, affecting everyone from President Joe Biden, who was diagnosed Wednesday, to Escanaba residents, who are experiencing some of the heaviest viral activity of the summer.

According to the Michigan Sentinel Wastewater Epidemiology Evaluation Project (SWEEP), which monitors the amount of detectible DNA from the virus responsible for COVID-19 in select sewersheds across the state, there has been a substantial increase in viral activity in Escanaba’s wastewater. The last sample collected from the Escanaba Wastewater Plant contained 75% more viral DNA than all samples collected at the site since the city began participating in the program in August of 2021. On July 3, the collected sample contained more than 42% of all samples, and the sample from July 1 contained more viral DNA than only 9% of samples.

It is impossible to know based on sewer data alone how many people are infected with COVID-19 or how severe individual cases are. However, according to information presented at the July 16 Delta County Board of Commissioners meeting, an outbreak at Pinecrest Medical Care Facility in Powers led to mask restrictions and the cancellation of Pinecrest board meetings the week of July 8. That outbreak has since subsided.

Data from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services — which only reports a fraction of infections, as infections identified through at-home tests are not reported and the federal mandate for hospitals to report COVID-19 admissions expired at the end of April — shows a pattern of infections across Michigan that is similar to what was seen in 2024. However, 2023 is experiencing peaks and valleys of infections about a month earlier. If the trend continues, the state could see a major spike in late August, followed by a September drop, and the season peaking in late November or early December.

On a county-by-county basis, 2024’s trends are less consistent with 2023’s data, with Upper Peninsula counties far less consistent than major metropolitan areas in the Lower Peninsula. This is likely due to the fact heavily-populated metro areas more heavily influence the state’s infection numbers and because lower-populated areas, like those in the U.P., have different rates of transmission between individuals.

The county-by-county reports for infections and deaths, while incomplete, do provide a barometer for infections. For the week of July 13, the infections reported for each U.P. county by MDHHS are as follows:

Gogebic – 2

Ontonagon – 3

Houghton – 15

Keweenaw – 1

Iron – 8

Baraga – 3

Dickinson – 4

Marquette – 5

Menominee – 4

Delta – 10

Alger – 1

Schoolcraft – 1

Luce – 0

Mackinac – 0

Chippewa – 5