12/20/20: New case counts drop to lowest level in six weeks

Michigan: Michigan’s seven day moving average of new COVID-19 cases has reached its lowest level since November 6. State health officials reported 3,896 new cases of the virus on Saturday, bringing the average down to 4,010 new cases per day for the previous week. The state’s new case average has been declining steadily for nearly two weeks now.

COVID-19 deaths are a different matter. The state reported 187 new deaths on Saturday, including 155 deaths discovered during a regular review of previous death records. That brings the average death toll to 114 per day for the past week. The state has had seen an average of more than 100 people die from the coronavirus each day since December 2.

Kalamazoo County: Kalamazoo County passed 10,000 cumulative coronavirus cases on Friday. The county reported 57 new infections that day pushing it to 10,009 total cases of the virus since March. The seven day moving average was 77 new cases per day.

Similar to the rest of the state, deaths continue to be high in Kalamazoo County. One person was reported to have died from the coronavirus on Friday bringing the average to 3.29 deaths per day. That’s slightly lower than the previous two days, but still high compared to previous weeks.

Hospitalizations: The state reported that 3,284 people were being treated for COVID-19 in Michigan hospitals on Friday. That’s down about 600 from the previous week.

In Kalamazoo, Bronson Methodist Hospital reported 30 COVID-19 patients on Friday – five fewer than the previous day, but still similar to the hospital’s average patient count over the past few weeks.