When the coronavirus pandemic began in 2020, Michigan's Upper Peninsula had the lowest case rates is the state. Now its the new COVID-19 hot spot.

Ever since things opened back up in Michigan, most people act like the pandemic has gone away. With many still not vaccinated who are not wearing masks, social distancing or basically taking any kind of precaution at all, the coronavirus numbers are continuing to climb in the Michigan.

I remember looking at the list of counties that showed the number of cases of COVID-19 when the pandemic began and almost the entire Upper Peninsula had little or no cases at all.

That has so changed for the eastern U.P.  According to MLive, there are four counties that are in Michigan's top seven for coronavirus cases rising. Luce, Mackinac, Alger and Schoolcraft are those counties and they have a lot of tourists cities in them like Mackinac Island, Tahquamenon Falls and Pictured Rocks.

Chippewa county is another area in the U.P. that is seeing a huge spike in cases and its now in the top 10 in Michigan.

I recently drove across the Upper Peninsula for my bear hunting trip but I never came in contact with anyone except for my hunting buddy and his wife and we all have been vaccinated . They were talking about the COVID-19 problems that have been on the rise in their area saying that most people in the area are not vaccinated and not using any safety measures to stop the spread.

Health Officials say its no surprise there is a rise in cases in the U.P. Low vaccination rates among those 12 to 40. Plus given that kids under 12 have not been vaccinated, this puts large clusters of unprotected people together and susceptible to the highly contagious Delta variant.

With the weather getting cooler and high numbers of unvaccinated people spending more time inside, plus kids are back in school, not to mention more and more just ignoring the safety protocols, experts believe its only going to get worse in the U.P.

Let's not blame it on all the residents of the U.P., don't forget there high traffic for tourists in the summer months coming from down state as well as all over the country and the world who visit the U.P. There is no way there were not some tourists who helped spread the virus in the U.P.

Health officials believe the only way to curve this trajectory is for everyone to get vaccinated who hasn't already. Until you get vaccinated and perhaps even after, it won't hurt to use the COVID-19 safety protocols.

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