St. Joseph County reported three additional positive cases of COVID-19 Thursday, while the number of confirmed deaths within the county related to the virus remains at one, according to the latest data from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. 

An outbreak at a Sturgis manufacturing facility, with employees contracting the virus and unknowingly bringing it home to their families, has contributed to a surge in positive cases over the last two weeks, with the number of positive cases within the county more than doubling in the last two weeks from 32 at the end of April to 79 as of Thursday afternoon.

The Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency told Watershed Voice Wednesday it estimates 750-780 tests for COVID-19 have been conducted in St. Joseph County since the virus reached Michigan. The health department was unable to provide a “recovered count” for those county residents who tested positive for the virus and later tested negative after treatment.

Total cases statewide — based on data collected by MDHHS that was released shortly after 3 p.m. Thursday — stand at 49,582 with 4,787 deaths attributed to COVID-19. The data also puts daily confirmed cases at 1,191 and daily COVID-19 deaths at 73. The cumulative total of recovered COVID-19 cases as of Friday, May 8 stands at 22,686.

Alek Haak-Frost is the executive editor of Watershed Voice.