6/9/21: Summer drop in COVID cases mirrors last year

Michigan: New COVID-19 infections have been falling rapidly in Michigan for weeks now. It’s similar to what happened a year ago as the initial surge of the coronavirus pandemic subsided.

Last year, the drop in coronavirus cases was attributed to the emergency restrictions put in place by Governor Gretchen Whitmer. This time around the reductions are likely thanks to the nearly 60% of Michiganders who have been vaccinated against the virus.

State health officials reported 293 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday. That’s down from a high of nearly 9,000 new cases on one day in April. Despite the recent declines, the seven day average on Wednesday actually went up – to 357 new cases per day.

The average of coronavirus deaths also saw an increase – from 29 deaths per day in the week ending Monday to more than 36 on Tuesday. The state reported 56 new deaths from the virus, with 37 coming from a review of previous death records.

The state’s positivity rate continued to fall on Monday. The state reported that in the week prior, 2.3% of COVID-19 tests returned positive results.

Kalamazoo County: We’ve also seen a slight rise in new infections and deaths over the past day in Kalamazoo.

County health officials reported 12 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday. That brought the seven day average up to 11 new cases per day.

The county also reported one new death from the virus. There have been two deaths over the past week.

After rising for several days, Kalamazoo County’s positivity rate fell below 3% again on Monday. In the week prior, 2.86% of COVID-19 tests returned positive results.