New outbreak numbers show COVID cases are slowing in schools
State health officials announced Monday that there are 30 new COVID-19 outbreaks at Michigan’s K-12 schools and colleges. That is in addition to 97 ongoing outbreaks that continue to grow.
On the bright side, the increase in outbreaks seems to be slowing down somewhat. The report shows 482 infections tied to K-12 schools in the state. It’s an 11% increase over last week’s numbers, which is down from the 25% increase from the week before.
There are three ongoing outbreaks in Kalamazoo County. Galesburg-Augusta Community Schools is still dealing with an outbreak that has sickened nine people. Kalamazoo College and Western Michigan University are the sites of the other two outbreaks. K-College is conducting classes online, while WMU is online and in person. WMU’s new case numbers have been slowing in recent weeks.
The bulk of infection numbers come from the state’s colleges and universities. A total 4,409 staff and students have been infected according to the latest report. It’s a decrease from last week’s 5,368. Much of the decline comes from Grand Valley State University dropping off the list along with its 992 cases.
There are four new outbreaks in the Region 5, which includes Kalamazoo County. Those are in Plainwell, Mattawan, Martin, and Hartford. There are seven other ongoing outbreaks in the region: In Barry, Branch, Cass, and Van Buren counties.
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