ALPENA — The number of positive COVID-19 tests among Northeast Michiganders has dropped markedly in recent weeks, but so has the number of coronavirus tests being requested by local residents.

After averaging 107 tests a day in November and December, in January an average of 89 coronavirus tests were administered to Alpena County residents, according to data provided by the state.

In the past week, that average fell to 65 tests per day.

Outlying counties followed the same trend, although less noticeably.

About 70 Presque Isle County residents were tested per day in November. That rate declined to 54 per day in December, and fell still further — to about 32 per day — in January.

An average of 30 Montmorency County residents were tested in December and January, down from 42 per day in November.

In Alcona County, testing has held steady at an average of 25 tests a day since November, with only a slight decline in tests during those months.

Interest in testing may have waned because of excitement over the introduction of the coronavirus vaccine, according to Devin Spivey, epidemiologist with District Health Departments No. 2 and No. 4.

Some people may be reluctant to be tested for fear of testing positive and becoming temporarily ineligible for the vaccine, she thinks.

People who have tested positive — or who are quarantining because of exposure to a person confirmed positive — can’t be vaccinated during the quarantine period for their own safety, Spivey explained. Vaccination trials didn’t include people actively infected with COVID-19, so it’s not known if there’s danger of an adverse reaction to a vaccine in that case.

People who have contracted the illness are partially protected by antibodies for a limited time. That’s time that can be used to leave a place in the vaccinations line for someone who hasn’t tested positive, Spivey said.

Though attention may have shifted to the vaccine, continued testing helps health officials to understand and address the actual rate of infection in Northeast Michigan.

New and more infectious strains of COVID-19 have been detected downstate. Coronavirus tests won’t catch the new strains, Spivey said, and the only way to know if the new variants have made their way north is to send as many tests as possible to labs for DNA testing.

Coronavirus tests are still being administered, although some testing sites have shut down or reduced their hours because they lost federal funding or saw a substantial decline in people coming in to be tested.

Tests are available through the Alcona Health Center and Thunder Bay Community Health Services and at Walgreens and LaFave Pharmacy in Alpena. Many insurance carriers help with or cover the cost of testing, according to health care officials. People without insurance may be eligible for government assistance to pay for tests.

Public health officials on Wednesday reported three newly infected or probably infected Northeast Michiganders, including two Alpena County residents and one Presque Isle County resident.

No new infections were reported among Montmorency or Alcona county residents.

State data showed that, as of Monday, 4,578 doses of coronavirus vaccine had been administered in Northeast Michigan.

As of Monday, five people were hospitalized at MidMichigan Medical Center-Alpena with coronavirus infection, including four in intensive care, according to state data. The hospital was 34% full.

As of Wednesday, 37 people were hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 infection across the state-designated, 18-county health care region that includes Alpena, Presque Isle, and Montmorency counties, according to state data.

As of Jan. 19, infection data for Alpena, Montmorency, and Presque Isle counties includes both confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 infection. Alcona County data includes only confirmed cases.

Based on that data, 2,741 Northeast Michiganders have been confirmed or suspected infected since the pandemic hit Michigan in mid-March. Of those, 96 have died.

The last death was reported Tuesday.

Local public health officials have stopped tracking recoveries.

Health officials expect the testing numbers they report to fluctuate more and more as rapid testing gains in popularity and availability.

The results of those tests are not considered diagnostically confirmed, which means that people who test positive after a rapid test have to be lumped in the “probable” category, Spivey explained.

That category also includes people who have not been tested but are probably infected because they have symptoms and had close contact with someone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19.

Those probably-positive people may later test negative and be removed from the count, making the number of total cases drop.

People with multiple residences, such as college students or downstaters with vacation homes in Northeast Michigan, may also cause test totals to drop when their county of residence is shifted as health officials update information, Spivey said.