4/1/21: State nears 5K new infections per day

Michigan: New infection numbers in Michigan are quickly rising to levels not seen since the middle of the fall surge of the pandemic.

State health officials reported 6,311 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday – the highest single day total this year. That pushed the seven day average to 4,945 new cases per day. That’s the highest it’s been since early December.

At the same time, the state reported just ten deaths from the coronavirus on Wednesday. The week average dropped slightly to 22 deaths per day.

Vaccines seem to be having a remarkable effect on COVID death numbers. The last time new infection numbers were as high as they are now, an average of 115 people were dying every day – five times more than today.

Other effects of the coronavirus are not improving. Hospitalizations are still worryingly high and rising. On Wednesday, 2,572 people were being treated for COVID-19 in hospitals in the state. That’s 126 more than the previous day. The number of people requiring ventilators and other intensive care have also been rising since the beginning of the month.

Kalamazoo County: County health officials did not report new COVID-19 numbers on Wednesday.

Vaccines: Vaccination efforts in Michigan continue to ramp up as health officials race to get more people inoculated against the coronavirus.

On Tuesday, facilities in the state administered 89,293 doses of vaccine, pushing the seven day average up to almost 82,000 vaccinations per day. Still, only about 20% of the adult population has been completely inoculated.

Kalamazoo County is faring slightly better. As of Tuesday, 22.7% of the adult population was completely immunized against the coronavirus. Facilities in the county are averaging 2,460 inoculations per day.