INGHAM COUNTY, MICHIGAN - On Tuesday, March 16th, Ingham County Health Officer Linda Vail spoke during a press conference.

Vail said that the current cases in Ingham County are at 16,228, with 282 deaths. A little over 1000 cases are currently active, and the rest are recovered, which the state’s definition of recovered is alive 30 days after the date of onset or date of referral if onset is unknown.

When identifying the County with the most significant number of cases, the zip code 48823 was identified, East Lansing. 14 or 15% of the new cases from last week were Michigan State-related. A significant number of deaths were seen in 48823, but a large percentage of those were long-term care facilities.

There have been three deaths so far during March in Ingham County. Compared to January and February, where the death range was near 20 a week, the County has now come down from that number significantly, with only having one to two deaths in the past three weeks.

In terms of the vaccine, there have been 58,026 Ingham County residents that have received their first dose of the vaccine, and 49,360 of those were administered by the Ingham County Health Department. Ingham County’s goal is to vaccinate 70% of Ingham County residents. Eligibility for the vaccine is 16 and over right now because the vaccines have not been approved for anyone under the age of 16.

When asked about St.Patrick’s day and what Vale advises people to be aware of, Vale said that several things are going on in preparation for Wednesday, mainly in the East Lansing area.

“The East Lansing city still has their mask requirement in their downtown business district indoors and outdoors. We still do have a 15 person gathering restriction outdoors in that section of East Lansing, which is kind of our highest noise ordinance area,” Vale said.

Vale noted that while there will be a lot of activity in the city of East Lansing on St.Patrick's day, there are people prepared to be out there. These people will be making sure that bars, restaurants, parties, and gatherings are in compliance with the indoor and outdoor gathering restrictions.

For more information on the indoor and outdoor gathering restrictions, Covid vaccine, and case numbers visit http://hd.ingham.org/DepartmentalDirectory/CommunicableDisease/Coronavirus(COVID19).aspx