Health officer: 'I am very very alarmed' at rise in Clinton County COVID-19 numbers
LANSING — As COVID-19 outbreaks spread across Greater Lansing, some people are resisting contact tracers as they try to identify where the virus may have spread.
Without contact tracing, Mid-Michigan District Health Department Health Officer Marcus Cheatham said the department isn't able to quarantine people who are contagious and alert anyone who should be extra careful.
Clinton County's daily positive COVID-19 numbers have shot up in the past month. On Oct. 1, six people tested positive. By Oct. 27, 31 people tested positive. In all, the county has had 1,102 positive COVID cases and 16 deaths.
From Oct. 22 to Oct. 28, about 8% — or 110 of 1,373 — of tests came back positive.
Things are much worse than they were at the start of the pandemic in March, Cheatham said.
And with an already overwhelmed system, data on positive tests is coming in late, leaving potentially infectious people traveling around the community, he said.
"We have so many outbreaks in so many places," Cheatham said. "It's like we're in New Orleans and the water is coming in the second-floor windows. People need to start taking this thing seriously."
The health department service Clinton, Gratiot and Montcalm counties.
Cheatham would not confirm any reports of outbreaks in Clinton County. He said confirming outbreaks make people think those are the only locations COVID-19 is spreading — which is untrue, he said. It also may hurt the health department's relationship with other public agencies they rely on to spread information, he said.
By contrast, the Ingham County Health Department has been reporting outbreaks.
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But DeWitt Township Manager Andrew Dymczyk said Friday morning the police department had "a few folks" who tested positive for COVID-19, while others who had close contact with them were asked to quarantine. Township officials posted a short message on Facebook Wednesday saying the department is "currently limited in capacity for service due to the COVID-19 pandemic."
On Friday morning, there was an unsigned statement on the township’s Facebook page asking anyone who came in close contact with a member of the police department between Oct. 14 and Oct. 27 to monitor their health conditions.
Cheatham, whose department handles cases in Clinton County, said the public is in denial about the severity of the situation. People have continued hosting parties, stores still refuse to enforce mask mandates and businesses are resisting when the health department tries to do contact tracing.
Barry Eaton Health Department spokesperson Anne Barna said they are having trouble getting people to cooperate with contact tracers as well. A 58-person outbreak at a Grand Ledge church may be much bigger than they know because church members have refused to speak to the department, Barna said.
Cheatham is especially worried about Halloween parties and crowded bars and restaurants during hunting season. People may unknowingly be "bringing COVID home along with their buck."
"We don't see any change coming that's going to stop it," he said. "I am very very alarmed with the situation...We've tried so much with public education, we've pretty much reached the people we can reach with our health messages."
The biggest risks of spreading COVID-19 come from where people gather unsafely, Cheatham said. That could be at birthday parties, churches, weddings, anywhere people are unprotected in large groups.
"It's when people are unmasked and not social distancing that this thing is spreading," Cheatham said.
Contact reporter Kara Berg at 517-377-1113 or kberg@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @karaberg95.