COVID Update: Slowing down

Michigan: The spring surge of the pandemic may be coming to an end, but the rate at which it’s declining slowed down over the past week.

For about two months beginning in March, the number of new COVID-19 infections rose steadily. More recently, those daily infection numbers have been declining, but the decline is slowing down.

State health officials reported 18,453 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday. That averages out to 2,636 new cases per day over the last week. That’s just a little over 100 new cases per day less than we were experiencing last week. It’s a disappointing number considering average daily infections dropped by nearly 1,000 the previous week.

The disappointing news also extends to COVID death numbers. Last week, the state reported that about seven people had died from the coronavirus each day. This week, that number jumped to almost 19 deaths per day. Officials reported that 131 people had died from COVID-19 since last Wednesday. That’s more than double the number from the previous week.

On the bright side, hospitalizations are continuing to fall. As of Wednesday, 939 people with COVID-19 were being treated in hospitals throughout the state. That’s 129 fewer patients than were counted the week before.

Kalamazoo County: Meanwhile, COVID stats continued to improve in Kalamazoo County.

Officials reported 454 new cases of COVID-19 in the county on Wednesday. That's exactly 50 fewer than the previous week. On average, about 65 people are contracting the virus each day in Kalamazoo. That, too, is a decline — from 72 new infections per day during the week before last.

One more person has died from COVID-19 over the past week. That keeps Kalamazoo County's death average steady at one death per week.