Once considered a coronavirus hotspot, Elkhart County’s COVID-19 cases are now at their lowest levels in a year.
According to the state COVID-19 dashboard, the county has a seven-day moving average of 10 positive cases. That’s a 77 percent decrease from just a month ago and the lowest average since May 2020.
Elkhart County Health Officer Dr. Bethany Wait said that’s enough to prevent a surge of new cases, but area hospitals are still admitting two to four COVID-19 patients a day.
“We can pretend that it’s gone, but it’s certainly far from gone,” Wait said.
Until a higher percentage of the population is vaccinated, Wait said new COVID infections will likely come in waves as more-contagious variants work their way through the unvaccinated population.
“The thing about COVID is it’s worldwide,” Wait said. “Until the entire world gets vaccinated, this is going to be a cyclic process for us. We’re looking at upwards of 2023 before we would even see any improvement of not seeing waves come in and out of the country.”
In the short-term, Wait said she expects Elkhart County to remain at the state’s “yellow” advisory level for some time. But, based on its current vaccination rate and the number of residents who have received first doses, she said the county is on track to have nearly 60 percent of residents vaccinated in the coming month.
“We’re going in the right direction,” Wait said. “I just think we all have to continue to be mindful that it’s still present and if you’re unvaccinated, you certainly continue to be at risk.”
Contact Gemma atgdicarlo@wvpe.orgor follow her on Twitter at@gemma_dicarlo.
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