2/24/21: New cases continue to rise

Michigan: New cases of COVID-19 are continuing to increase in Michigan, albeit slowly.

On Wednesday, state health officials reported 1,245 new cases of the coronavirus. That caused the seven day moving average to rise to 966 new cases per day. The daily average has been rising since last Friday.

The state also reported nine new deaths from the coronavirus on Wednesday. That caused the week average to drop to 31 deaths per day. Deaths are considered a lagging indicator of COVID-19 rates, meaning we could see deaths increase as a result of current infections in about two weeks.

Hospitalizations declined again on Wednesday after rising on Tuesday. The state reported that 855 people were being treated for COVID-19 in hospitals in Michigan on Wednesday. That’s 36 fewer than on Tuesday.

Kalamazoo County: New infections are rising in Kalamazoo County as well, while the death rate for COVID-19 remains flat.

County health officials reported 38 new cases of the coronavirus on Wednesday. That caused the seven day average to rise to about 27 new cases per day. The average of new infections has been rising since last Thursday.

The county reported no new deaths from the coronavirus and the average remained steady at 0.43 deaths per day over the past week.

Vaccines: As of Tuesday, nearly 2 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been administered in Michigan. So far, more than 713,000 people have completed the two dose regimen required to reach full immunity.

In Kalamazoo County, 22,287 people have had both doses of the vaccine, with another 15,877 having received just the first dose.

The county is averaging 1,184 inoculations per day in the week ending Tuesday.