The number of counties in more serious color categories continues to climb on Indiana’s COVID-19 tracking map.
The situation in the WVPE listening area is the same as last week: Elkhart and LaGrange County remain in the most serious “red” category, which indicates unchecked spread of the virus. All other listener counties remain in the “orange,” which indicates high spread.
Statewide, though, things have gotten worse. The number of red counties has nearly doubled since last week, rising from six to 11. That’s the highest number of red counties since Oct. 13.
The number of “yellow” counties – which have moderate spread of the virus – decreased from 21 to eight this week, a 62 percent decrease.
And for the first time in a month, there are no counties in the “blue” category, which indicates low spread of the virus.
Hospitalizations have increased in Healthcare District Two, which covers most of the WVPE listening area. As of Wednesday, there were 212 patients hospitalized with COVID-19. The number of hospitalized patients has been rising since Nov. 12.
And 14.3 percent of area ICU beds are available this week — almost 5 percentage points less than last week.
According to the state’s vaccine dashboard, 58.2 percent of Hoosiers ages 12 and older and 52.6 percent of Hoosiers ages 5 and older are fully vaccinated.
Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control recommended Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for all children ages 5 to 11. According to the vaccine dashboard, about 0.5 percent of Hoosiers ages 5 to 11 have been fully vaccinated.
Vaccination rates still vary widely by zip code.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, all counties in Indiana and Michigan have “high” community spread of the virus. That means both vaccinated and unvaccinated Hoosiers should wear masks indoors.
Contact Gemma atgdicarlo@wvpe.orgor follow her on Twitter at@gemma_dicarlo.
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