4/13/21: Hospitalizations rise to more than 4K

Michigan: Michigan surpassed 4,000 COVID-related hospitalizations for the first time since early December.

As of Monday, 4,167 people were being treated for COVID-19 in hospitals in the state. The situation is only expected to get worse as Michigan faces its highest positivity rates since the early days of the pandemic.

In the week ending Sunday, and average of 16.09% of coronavirus tests conducted in Michigan returned positive results – a higher positivity rate than at the height of the fall surge of the pandemic.

State health officials announced 9,674 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday and Monday. That actually caused the seven day average to fall slightly to 6,457 cases per day.

The state also reported 12 new deaths from the coronavirus, which caused the week average to drop by one to 39 deaths per day.

Outbreaks: The state has identified 51 new outbreaks of COVID-19 in the past week, with more than 200 staff and students having contracted the virus. That’s an increase of 16% over last week’s report.

Currently, 10,537 people have caught the coronavirus in more than 300 new and ongoing outbreaks in K-12 schools and colleges.

None of the new outbreaks are in Kalamazoo County, but five ongoing outbreaks are. Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo College each have outbreaks continuing from last fall, while two schools and a daycare in Portage contend with outbreaks that began earlier this year.

Kalamazoo County: Three people died from COVID-19 over the weekend in Kalamazoo County. That brought the average up to one death per day over the past week.

County health officials reported 409 new cases of the coronavirus over the course of Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. After reaching a pandemic high on Friday, the seven day average actually dropped slightly to 146 new infections per day.

The county’s positivity rate continued to rise over the weekend into territory not seen since this time last year. In the week ending Sunday, 17.48% of COVID-19 tests conducted in the county returned positive results.

Hospitalizations in the county also seem to be getting worse. Bronson Methodist Hospital reported it was treating 61 COVID-19 patients on Monday, putting it even with the peak of the fall surge. The hospital is operating at 94% capacity.

Ascension Borgess Hospital reported 36 coronavirus patients, which is even with where it’s been for over a week. That hospital reported it was operating at 86% capacity.

Vaccines: In a race against time to curb COVID-19 infections, county and state officials are enhancing efforts to get people vaccinated as quickly as possible.

In the week ending Sunday, facilities in the state were administering an average of almost 95,000 doses of vaccine per day. That’s the highest it has ever been.

Kalamazoo County is similarly breaking records. On Sunday, county officials reported they were vaccinating nearly 3,000 per day in the previous week – also a record.

So far, more than 31% of adults in Kalamazoo have been fully inoculated against COVID-19, while 27% of Michiganders are fully vaccinated.