More than half of Michigan Covid deaths this year were in Detroit area

Statistics showing the pandemic's 2020 toll in Michigan are virtually complete, a stark tally of lives lost, families rocked and hospitals slammed.

The state lists 12,333 confirmed Covid-19 deaths since March and 685 more classified as probably caused by the virus -- 13,018 fatalities in all. 

More than half of confirmed deaths -- 6,519 -- were in the tricounty Detroit area. That's nearly 53 percent of the total.

(Graphic: Michigan Department of Health and Human Services)

State health department data posted Wednesday afternoon, its last update before 2021, also shows 488,144 confirmed Covid diagnoses and 40,477 probable cases -- a total of 528,621 people affected. (Over 318,000 were declared "recovered" as of Dec. 23, the most recent update of that status.)

Department of Health and Human Services statisticians, taking a two-day holiday break, will post full year-end figures Saturday afternoon.

The daily rates of new cases and deaths have declined over the past two weeks, as have hospitalizations. Lansing's database shows 2,881 adults and 25 youngsters in hospitals statewide Wednesday with confirmed or suspected coronavirus infections.

(Photo: Michigan Department of Health and Human Services)

Michigan ranks 11th nationally for Covid deaths as a share of population, with 5,239 deaths per 100,000 people, according to New York Times figures. (Nationwide pandemic fatalities exceed 340,500.)

Wayne County, including Detroit, has the eighth-highest number of confirmed and probable Covid deaths among U.S. counties -- 3,624. The county ranks 24th highest for confirmed and probable cases -- 84,941. (Rankings are compiled by the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.)

Here are near-final state figures for Covid cases and deaths in Metro Detroit during 2020: 

► Detroit: 25,613 confirmed cases; 1,763 probable | 1,691 confirmed deaths; 118 probable

► Wayne County (excluding city): 54,152 confirmed cases; 3,413 probable | 1,741 confirmed deaths; 74 probable

► Oakland: 53,956 confirmed cases; 7,239 probable | 1,563 confirmed deaths; 73 probable 

► Macomb: 47,317 confirmed cases; 2,156 probable | 1,524 confirmed deaths; 77 probable

Macomb has the region's highest proportional infection rate, with 5,659 cases per 100,000 residents, according to The Times' table.

Related today:

What Covid-19 took from Detroit: Names and faces of the 2020 dead