12/7/20: State adds 100K new COVID cases in 15 days

Michigan: As of Monday, the state of Michigan has had more than 400,000 cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. The last 100,000 of those have come in just the last half-month.

On November 21, the state counted a cumulative total of 302,705 cases of the coronavirus. By Monday, that had reached 404,386. It’s a worrying number that suggests the worst of the pandemic may be yet to come.

State health officials reported 9,350 new cases of COVID-19 over the course of Sunday and Monday, bringing the seven day moving average to 6,277 new cases per day. The average is less than its peak about two weeks ago, but it’s still higher than at any point during the first surge of infections in the spring.

Deaths are also mounting as the pandemic lurches into it eighth month. On Monday, the state counted 93 new deaths from the coronavirus over the past two days bringing Michigan to 9,947 deaths total since March. The state is averaging 116 deaths per day.

Kalamazoo County: County officials reported 254 new cases of COVID-19 over the course of Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. That brings the average down to 112 new cases per day for the county, a decrease from its peak of 150 per day on December 2.

At the same time, Kalamazoo counted six new deaths from the virus over the weekend increasing the seven day moving average to 2.14 deaths per day.

Hospitalizations: The state’s COVID-19 hospitalization number continued to decline on Monday, as it has done for the past week. On Monday, there were 4,122 people being treated for COVID-19 in the state’s hospitals – 19 fewer than on Friday.

In Kalamazoo, hospitalization numbers have held steady since last week. Bronson Methodist Hospital reported 36 COVID-19 patients on Monday, putting it at 92% capacity. Ascension Borgess Hospital had 47 COVID-19 patients, putting it at 83% capacity, according to state data.

Positivity Rate: State and local positivity rates have largely remained stable for the past week after rising precipitously in November.

The state of Michigan reported an average positivity rate of 13.83% on Sunday, which is within a percentage point of where it’s been every day in December. That’s still much higher than the 5% state officials have targeted as criteria for reopening the economy since early summer.

Kalamazoo County has been similarly flat. Kalamazoo’s average positivity rate was 11.41% on Sunday. That’s down from a peak of 13.87% on November 10.