Health Department Seeing Increased COVID Cases In Berrien

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The Berrien County Health Department is seeing COVID-19 cases increasing locally. Just a few weeks ago, the department noted only a dozen cases in one week, and now the county is counting around a dozen cases in a given day. Berrien County Health Department spokesperson Gillian Conrad spoke with WSJM News.

“We know that there have been several clusters of cases that have been linked back to larger family gatherings, youth group events, nursing homes, even in the last week,” Conrad said.

Conrad says people are getting back out and not following guidelines.

“We just really are hoping that we can continue to keep our case counts at a manageable level so that our hospitals do not become overwhelmed, and that our entire region here in southwest Michigan is able to remain in Phase 4 of the MI safe Start Plan.”

Conrad notes the average age of a new COVID patient in Berrien County has been about 39 since mid-June, whereas it was around 60 before then. She reminds younger people they can still spread COVID-19 to anyone, including their older loved ones.