St. Joseph County, as of Wednesday afternoon, has 76 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19, 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. 

According to a report from the Sturgis Journal, the recent surge in positive cases are due to an outbreak at a Sturgis manufacturing facility, with employees contracting the virus and unknowingly bringing it home to their families.

At the end of April St. Joseph County had just 32 positive cases but those numbers have more than doubled in two weeks.

Total cases statewide — based on data collected by MDHHS that was released shortly after 3 p.m. Wednesday — stand at 48,021 with 4,674 deaths attributed to COVID-19. The data also puts daily confirmed cases at 469 and daily COVID-19 deaths at 90.

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