1/11/21: 4,536 new COVID cases Sunday and Monday

Michigan: State health officials reported 4,536 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday and Monday. That brings the seven day moving average down to 3,071 new cases per day. That suggests that Michigan’s new infection rate is still high but stable.

The state also reported 47 new deaths from the coronavirus over the two-day period. The state is averaging 103 deaths per day over the past week, which is a stark increase over the relatively low numbers reported over the previous two weeks.

The state’s positivity rate also seems to be stabilizing. Officials reported about 8% of COVID tests on Monday came back positive. Experts still consider that high, but it’s lower than it had been just a week ago.

The state’s COVID hospitalization numbers are still declining. On Monday, the state reported 2,396 people were being treated for COVID-19 in hospitals in Michigan. That’s 84 fewer than on Friday and marks six weeks of mostly steady decline in hospital numbers.

Kalamazoo County: The county’s new case and death numbers declined a little over the weekend.

Officials reported 193 new cases of COVID-19 over the course of Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. That brought the county’s seven day average down slightly to almost 88 new cases per day.

The county also reported two more deaths over the weekend. As of Monday, the county is averaging 2.2 deaths per day over the previous week. That’s almost 2/3 what it was on Friday.

Hospitalizations continue to be stubbornly high in Kalamazoo County, with hospitals consistently operating near capacity.

Bronson Methodist Hospital on Monday reported it was caring for 32 COVID-19 patients. It was operating at 90% capacity. Ascension Borgess Hospital reported 41 coronavirus patients, putting it at 82% capacity.

Vaccines: More than 233,000 Michiganders have received at least the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine. However, daily vaccination rates continue to fluctuate wildly as deliveries of new doses of the vaccine continue to be unpredictable.

That fact has prompted Governor Gretchen Whitmer to explore the idea of buying vaccines directly from Pfizer rather than going through the process of receiving them through the federal government.

As of Sunday, nearly 9,000 doses of the vaccine had been administered in Kalamazoo County. That’s out of more than 28,000 doses that have been delivered. The county’s health department says all the doses it’s received are already spoken for and that most vaccines are administered shortly after they’re received.