State reports 63 new outbreaks in schools, up 49% over last week

According to new outbreak numbers released Monday, there are 7,260 students and school staff infected with COVID-19 right now. That’s a 49% increase over numbers from last week.

That report comes a day after Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced new COVID-19 restrictions including suspending in-person classes for high school and college students. Nearly half the new outbreaks reported happened on high school or college campuses.

In all, there are 242 new and ongoing outbreaks affecting Michigan schools. That includes four in Kalamazoo County: At Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo College, Heritage Christian Academy, and Comstock Elementary. There are also reported outbreaks at nearby Paw Paw High School, Mattawan High School, and Plainwell High School.

The majority of infections have afflicted college and university campuses – 6,191. Just 779 cases of COVID-19 have been found in K-12 schools. Part of the reason for that is infections that happened off-campus are not included in K-12 data, but are included in college and university reporting.

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