Here is the latest information on the coronavirus in Michigan, including the number of cases state officials report and other updates affecting West Michigan.
Saturday's cases
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services reported 562 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, bringing the total to 37,203. This is a huge decline in the recent case counts, which had climbed back up past 1,000 late in the week.
There were 189 deaths reported, but state health officials say 58 of those were added from reviewing death certificate data from the past couple of days. If a death certificate matches a confirmed COVID-19 case, it will be counted on the Michigan coronavirus website. The total number of deaths has reached 3,274.
The state health department is updating the number of recoveries on Saturdays. Current data shows that 8,342 people have recovered from the virus in Michigan. This is an increase of about 5,000 from last Saturday.
A recovery is counted as a confirmed COVID-19 patient who is 30 days out from the onset of their symptoms.
The Michigan Department of Corrections reported 1,026 cases and 31 deaths. There are 74 cases within the Federal Corrections institute.
The state emphasizes that the report of cumulative data is "provisional and subject to change. As public health investigations of individual cases continue, there will be corrections to the status and details of referred cases that result in changes to this report." The state is also no longer reporting new cases by county.
There are 2,889 COVID-19 patients who are hospitalized, and 934 of those are on ventilators and 1,164 are in critical care. There have been 742 people discharged from Michigan hospitals.
Michigan's case fatality rate is 9%, but health officials say this will likely decline as testing of people with mild symptoms becomes more widely available.
Kalamazoo County hiring temporary nurses to help care for homeless COVID-19 patients
The Kalamazoo County government is hiring registered nurses to assist with the COVID-19 response efforts.
The temporary positions will be located in an isolation facility delivering nursing care, providing education and conducting disease surveillance. Those hired will provide care for the Kalamazoo County homeless population.
The county warns that nurses who are hired will have the potential to be exposed to COVID-19. They emphasize that the RNs must be able to pear PPE, including N-95 masks, gowns and gloves. All necessary PPE will be provided.
To apply, visit the Kalamazoo County Government Human Resources website.
Friday's cases
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services reported 1,350 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, bringing the state total to 36,641. This is the second day in a row the case count has exceeded 1,000 after there was a dip earlier in the week.
The number of deaths recorded Friday was 108. There are now 3,085 Michiganders who have died from coronavirus.
The Michigan Department of Corrections is reporting 973 cases of COVID-19 and 28 deaths. There are 68 cases within the Federal Corrections Institute.
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