COVID-19 Hospitalizations Drop In Berrien County

nickibritten123020
nickibritten123020

Spectrum Health Lakeland CEO and president Dr. Loren Hamel is thanking southwest Michigan for staying home for Thanksgiving as the number of new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continues to fall.

“We currently have 39 individuals under respiratory precaution with infectious, contagious COVID-19,” says Hamel. “We have another 13 or so in the hospital long enough they’re no longer contagious.”

Hamel says intensive care, however, is still packed. Berrien County Health Department health officer Nicki Britten says people cut back on their holiday gatherings.

“There has been really a void of large gatherings in public, so there’s lots of things to attribute it to, but we are very encouraged by seeing these decreasing numbers.”

Britten adds the vaccine will be available for free except for a possible administration fee charged to someone’s insurance.