KALAMAZOO, MI -- Michigan’s coronavirus numbers are hitting a plateau and Southwest Michigan is among regions of the state trending downward for new cases. The region dropped out of the high risk category for new cases when the average daily new cases decreased by 20 cases in one week.
Michigan Chief Medical Executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, during a press conference on Wednesday, pointed to the Kalamazoo region as an area seeing a steady decrease over the last 2-3 weeks.
As a whole, the region is still categorized in the medium-risk category by the MI Safe Start map, using data from Aug. 3. The nine-county region, labeled the “Kalamazoo” region by the state, includes Allegan, Barry, Van Buren, Kalamazoo, Calhoun, Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph and Branch counties.
In a span of seven days, the region saw a drop in new cases per day per million from 52.1 to 31.2, which pushed the region out of the high risk category.
In the same weeklong period, running from July 27 through Aug. 3, the region’s positivity rate dropped from 3.2% to 2.9%, putting it in the low risk category. On average, the region is administering 2,647 tests a week.
Kalamazoo County’s positivity rate has steadily declined and dipped down into medium risk. The county is at 3.3% of positivity with an average of 727 tests weekly.
Recorded new cases remain in the medium-high category at 31.2 new cases per day per million. The number of daily cases per million is the number of new daily cases divided by the number of people in that county or region. It is adjusted to a “per million” people scale so that counties and regions can be more easily compared.
New cases in Kalamazoo County continue to drop as well although the county remains squarely in the medium-high category with 27.3 new cases per day per million. The medium-high category is between 20 and 40 new cases.
In a span of seven days, the county’s case count dropped by almost 20 cases. From July 27 to Aug. 3, new cases in Kalamazoo County dropped from 46.4 new cases to 27.3 new cases per day per million.
In total, Kalamazoo County recorded 1,473 cases and 81 deaths since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
The southernmost counties within the Kalamazoo region remain in higher risk categories for new cases.
Related: New coronavirus cases along Indiana border higher than elsewhere in Southwest Michigan
Cass County reached high risk at 55.5 new cases per day per million. Branch County is considered to be in a state of “uncontrolled growth” at 85.2 new cases per million.
St. Joseph County’s cases have declined substantially after being listed among Michigan’s hot spots last week. As of July 28, data showed that St. Joseph County was at 98.5 daily new cases per million. As of Aug. 3, the county is down to 35.2 daily new cases per million.
Statewide, 722 new cases and 26 deaths were reported on Thursday, Aug. 6. This is an increase from the day before, when the state recorded 657 new cases and two deaths.
The deaths announced on Thursday includes 17 deaths identified during a vital records review, according to the state website.
Since mid-March, the state of Michigan has reported 85,429 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 6,247 deaths associated with the infectious respiratory illness.
The state reported 60,022 individuals had recovered from COVID-19 as of Friday, July 31. A recovery is recorded when an individual survives 30 days past the onset of their illness and stopped showing symptoms. The state’s “recoveries” data is updated on Saturdays.
More on MLive:
How accurate is Michigan’s COVID-19 death total?
‘Are masks bad for your health?,’ plus 8 other coronavirus myths and truths
Latest on coronavirus antibodies and immunity: What we know and what we don’t at this point