4/8/21: Hospitalizations jump by more than 700 over weekend

Michigan: The number of people being treated for COVID-19 in hospitals in Michigan soared over the weekend as the number of new infections climbed to the highest levels since the fall surge of the coronavirus.

State health officials reported that 3,554 people were being treated for COVID-19 in hospitals in the state on Tuesday. That’s 753 more than on Friday. Unlike the fall surge, the majority of COVID patients at the moment are people under the age of 50. Previous waves of the pandemic have overwhelmingly affected the elderly.

The rise included 137 more people being treated in intensive care units. The number of children being hospitalized has also increased – from 35 on Friday to 44 on Tuesday.

Officials reported 4,964 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday. The seven day average declined slightly to 5,931 new patients per day – less than on Monday, but not significantly so.

The state reported 58 new deaths from the coronavirus, causing the week average to rise to nearly 31 new deaths per day. The death average has been rising for most of the past week.

The state’s positivity rate also continues to climb, with 17% of COVID tests conducted on Monday returning positive results. The state’s positivity rate is now higher than it was during the peak of the fall surge. The positivity rate reached almost 16% on December 2 before declining to nearly 3% in February.

Kalamazoo County: The average of new infections in Kalamazoo County has reached its highest level since early December.

County health officials reported 146 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday. That pushed the seven day average to nearly 122 new cases per day. The average of daily infections reached an all-time high of 150 cases per day on December 2. The county is on track to reach that by next week if things don’t improve.

The county reported one new death from the coronavirus on Tuesday. Kalamazoo is averaging 0.4 deaths per day over the past week.

The county’s positivity rate is the highest its been since April of last year. On Monday, 15.46% of COVID tests returned positive results.

Vaccines: Governor Gretchen Whitmer got her first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday. At age 49, she hasn’t technically been eligible to be vaccinated until Monday.

Meanwhile, more than 1.8 million Michiganders have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. That equals out to 22.8% of the state’s adult population. A majority of those vaccinated are over age 65.

In Kalamazoo County, 26% of the adult population has been fully vaccinated. That’s nearly 56,000 people. Facilities in the county are inoculating an average of 2,100 people per day.