The Allegan County Health Department has reported today that two more people in the county have died in the past two weeks as a result of the Coronavirus.
As of Friday, Aug. 27, the death toll was listed at 160, but then it increased to 162 and now stands at 164 since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.
Ten new hospitalizations also have been reported over the past two weeks and today it was announced that four more Wayland students, two from the middle school and two from Pine Street Elementary, have tested positive for the virus.
The viral positivity rate in testing has declined slightly to.5 percent, but still up from only 3% a couple of months ago. Though the daily average of new cases over seven days was estimated at just 2.3 in late June, it had increased to 38 as of Friday.
A total of 435 cases has been reported in the county over the past two weeks. There now have been 287 hospitalizations from Covid in Allegan County since the pandemic began. The number of tests is 12,111 and 11,674 people have been characterized as recovered.
The Allegan County Health Department Aug. 18 issued a directive for all public schools in the county to mandate children in grades K-6 to wear masks in the classrooms because they are not eligible for vaccinations. Parents from every school district in the county have been lodging protests.
Though the County Board of Commissioners voted to ask the Health Department to rescind its mask order, the county attorney has indicated it has no authority in the issue. State Rep. Steve Johnson has called for the resignation of the health officer.
The neighboring Barry-Eaton District Health Department last week implemented a mask order that applies to all students in school districts in its coverage area.
In Allegan County, the mask order applies to students in grades K-6, but it issued a recommendation to have all students mask up as well. The Wayland Board of Education voted not to follow the recommendation.
