1/13/21: 2,694 new COVID cases, 32 deaths

Michigan: State health officials reported 2,694 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday. That brought the state’s seven day moving average down to 2,796 new infections per day. The number of new infections seems to be declining after a slight blip likely caused by the December holidays.

The state also reported 32 deaths from the coronavirus. That brought the state’s seven day average down to about 88 deaths per day.

Michigan’s COVID-19 hospitalization numbers declined again after rising slightly on Tuesday. The state reported 2,246 people being treated for the coronavirus in Michigan on Wednesday. That’s nearly 200 fewer people than on Tuesday. The state’s hospitalization numbers have been mostly declining since the beginning of December.

And the state’s positivity rate continued to decline on Tuesday. On average over the past week, about 8% of tests conducted in the state have been coming back positive. That’s lower than recent months, but still above the 5% rate state health officials targeted last summer as a criteria to reopen the economy.

Kalamazoo County: County health officials reported 73 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday bringing the county’s seven day average to 78 cases per day. That number has been declining for three days straight after rising since the new year.

The county reported no new deaths from the coronavirus on Wednesday. Kalamazoo is averaging 1.14 deaths per day, the lowest average death number since November 30.

On Tuesday, the county’s average positivity rate dipped below 10% for the first time in nearly two weeks. Roughly 9% of tests conducted in Kalamazoo County came back positive over the previous seven days.

Vaccines: The state is ramping up its vaccination efforts. On Tuesday, 27,811 people received at least the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The state is averaging more than 22,000 vaccinations per day over the past seven days – a record since vaccinations began in December.

More than 330,000 doses of vaccine have been administered in Michigan so far.

In Kalamazoo County, 938 people received a dose of the vaccine on Tuesday, bringing the county’s total to about 11,000 doses administered so far.

Still, deliveries of new doses of vaccine are slow, both in Kalamazoo County and the rest of the state. Kalamazoo County hasn’t received any new vaccine since last week. It’s been several days since new doses of either vaccine was distributed anywhere in the state.