11/22/20: State breaks 300K COVID cases

Michigan: Michigan has surpassed 300,000 cases of COVID-19 as of Saturday. It’s a grim milestone made even worse by the fact that the state broke 200,000 cases just 15 days prior.

The state reported a record breaking 9,779 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday and another 7,528 on Saturday. That brings Michigan to a cumulative 302,705 confirmed cases of the virus since the pandemic began. The seven day moving average is 7,270 new cases per day.

The state also reported 53 new deaths Friday and 101 new deaths Saturday, with 59 of Saturday’s total coming as a result of a review of previous death records. The state is averaging 69 deaths per day.

Kalamazoo County: County officials reported 201 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday bringing the county’s average to 149 new cases per day. The county also reported three new deaths from the virus. Kalamazoo County is averaging nearly three deaths per day.

WMU: Infection rates at Western Michigan University are rising. The university reported 66 new cases of COVID-19 during the first three days of last week. As of Wednesday, WMU had reported 1,071 cases of the coronavirus since students began returning to campus for the fall semester. Wednesday was also the day new orders restricting in-person classes at universities were implemented, effectively bringing the fall semester to an end.

Hospitalizations: Michigan is close to passing the highest level of hospitalizations experienced during the pandemic. On Friday, the state reported 3,887 people were being cared for in Michigan hospitals for COVID-19. The state peaked with nearly 4,000 coronavirus patients on April 14.

Positivity Rates: The state’s positivity rate has leveled off recently after rising steadily for several weeks. As of Friday, the state’s average positivity rate was 13.06%, which is still regarded by health officials as dangerously high.

Kalamazoo County’s positivity rate has also stopped rising. On Friday, the county reported 8.19% of COVID-19 tests came back positive bringing the average positivity to 11.94%.