10/22/20: 1,873 new COVID infections, 43 deaths

State health officials reported 1,873 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday. The seven day moving average dropped slightly to 1,682, which is still higher than during the peak of the pandemic in April.

The state also reported 43 deaths from the coronavirus with the majority of those, 31, coming from a review of previous vital records. The state is now averaging about 22 deaths per day – up from 15 per day a week ago.

Most of the Michigan’s counties – 73 out of 83 – are classified as “orange” or higher according to a metric developed by the Harvard Global Health Institute. That means those counties are experiencing an accelerated spread of the virus with between 10 and 24 new cases per day per 100,000 residents of those counties.

Hospitalizations have declined slightly. As of Thursday, 1,208 people were being treated in a Michigan hospital for confirmed or suspected COVID-19 infections. It’s 13 less than on Wednesday, but nearly 200 more than a week ago.

The state’s positivity rate also went down a little. On Wednesday, the percent of COVID-19 tests coming back positive was 4.93%.

Kalamazoo County on Thursday experienced the largest single day increase in coronavirus infections since the beginning of the pandemic. The county reported 133 new infections and one death. The county is averaging 77 new cases of COVID-19 per day.