Dickinson County public schools again will go to virtual learning starting Monday through Nov. 22 on the recommendation of local health officials.

The four area school districts — Breitung Township, Iron Mountain, Norway-Vulcan and North Dickinson County — only resumed in-person classes this week, again on the advice of the Dickinson-Iron District Health Department, which last Thursday cited a drop in COVID-19 positives in not recommending to extend the previous two-week shutdown past Oct. 30.

“Unfortunately, since that date, we have again experienced an increase in COVID-19 activity within Dickinson County,” the DIDHD said in a written statement today.

The DIDHD has identified 211 new COVID-19 cases since Oct. 29, including some among students and staff in local schools, according to the statement.

The DIDHD added that Dickinson County Healthcare System in a call today indicated bed capacity was being expanded due to COVID-19 needs. The state’s COVID-19 data site Thursday listed 13 virus patients in Dickinson County Memorial Hospital, including three in intensive care.

All four school districts issued letters to families advising of the coming shift and what will be done today to set up for virtual learning. Due to a lack of substitute teachers, Breitung Township arranged today to have classes via Google Meet for grades five through 12, but Woodland Elementary was still to be in session.

The DIDHD also recommended contact sports “be avoided at this time to protect our students, coaches and our community.” Both Iron Mountain and Kingsford have state football playoff games set before the closure, the Mountaineers tonight against Gwinn and the Flivvers at Reed City on Saturday.

The DIDHD on Thursday reported 25 new COVID-19 positives in Dickinson County and 19 new in Iron County, plus a new death in each county. No further information was provided on the two fatal cases, as has been the DIDHD’s practice in respect of families’ privacy.

The DIDHD on Thursday showed Dickinson County at 872 confirmed positives so far and 32 probable cases, with 280 recovered, 23 deaths and 601 cases still active. For Iron County, the department has had 496 confirmed cases and 34 probables, with 276 recovered, 25 deaths and 229 cases still active.

Across the Upper Peninsula’s 15 counties, the state’s data site Thursday listed 232 new confirmed COVID-19 positives: 84 in Delta County, 51 in Marquette County, 33 in Menominee County, 16 in Iron and Ontonagon counties, 15 in Baraga County, 12 in Dickinson and Houghton counties, eight in Gogebic County and three in Schoolcraft County. The state reduced Luce County’s count by 15, Alger County’s count by two and Keweenaw County’s count by one. It also recorded two new deaths in Dickinson and Delta counties, one in Iron County and the first virus-related death in Keweenaw County.

In total for the U.P., the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services’ COVID-19 data site Thursday had Keweenaw County with 23 confirmed cases and one probable, and one death; Luce County, 96 confirmed cases and 26 probable; Alger County, 100 confirmed, 33 probable and one death; Schoolcraft County, 115 confirmed cases and five probable, plus one probable death; Chippewa County, 134 confirmed cases and 125 probable; Baraga County, 142 confirmed cases, 26 probable and four deaths; Mackinac County, 142 confirmed cases and 41 probable; Ontonagon County, 162 confirmed, 21 probable and one death; Gogebic County, 365 confirmed cases and 141 probable, six confirmed deaths and nine probable deaths; Iron County, 492 confirmed cases and 32 probable, 24 confirmed deaths and four probable; Menominee County, 791 confirmed cases, 84 probable and seven deaths; Dickinson County, 860 confirmed cases and 26 probable, 22 confirmed deaths and one probable; Houghton County, 880 confirmed cases, 184 probable, eight confirmed deaths and one probable; Marquette County, 1,270 confirmed cases, 174 probable and 18 deaths; and Delta County, 1,451 confirmed cases and 157 probable, 35 confirmed deaths and seven probable. State numbers are updated daily but can lag behind local reports or have other discrepancies.

Using only the state figures Thursday, the Upper Peninsula has had 7,023 confirmed COVID-19 cases to date and 127 deaths.

The MDHHS reported 5,710 confirmed new COVID-19 cases in Michigan on Thursday for a total of 197,806 to date. The state added 51 new deaths — including 26 that happened earlier but recently were verified through vital records and testing, according to the MDHHS — for a total of 7,470.

For Wisconsin counties in the region, that state’s COVID-19 data site for Thursday had 42 new positives in Marinette County, 14 in Forest County, 22 in Vilas County, nine in Iron County and one in Florence County.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services on Thursday had Marinette County with 2,057 confirmed cases, 147 probable cases and 18 deaths; Vilas County, 744 confirmed, 22 probable and seven deaths; Forest County, 546 confirmed, 30 probable and 11 deaths; Iron County, 241 confirmed, 50 probable and five deaths, one probable; and Florence County, 235 confirmed, 15 probable and eight deaths. As with the Michigan data, the state numbers are updated daily but can lag behind local reports or have other discrepancies.

Wisconsin had 5,922 new positives Thursday for a total of 249,924. The state added 38 new COVID-19 deaths Thursday to reach 2,194.