Two weeks ago, St. Joseph County dropped to the ‘yellow’ category, which indicates moderate spread of COVID-19, for the first time since September. But it’s now back in the ‘orange,’ indicating high spread of the virus.
LaPorte County also went back into the ‘orange’ this week — it had dropped into the ‘yellow’ in early October.
And after dropping into the ‘orange’ two weeks ago, LaGrange County is now back in the ‘red’ category, indicating unchecked community spread of COVID-19.
All other WVPE listener counties stayed in the ‘orange’ with no change from last week.
The situation is a bit better statewide. Forty-nine Indiana counties are still ‘yellow,’ and one is ‘blue,’ indicating low spread of the virus. That leaves forty still in the ‘orange,’ and two in the ‘red.’
But hospitalizations continue to plateau in Healthcare District Two, which covers most of the WVPE listening area. As of Tuesday, there were 133 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, and two more who may have the disease for a total of 135.
That’s below the Sept. 20 peak of 179, but the number of hospitalized patients has fluctuated between 128 and 156 since Sept. 22.
And 15.6 percent of area ICU beds are available — a sizable drop from 21.5 percent last week.
Statewide COVID cases have declined from the Sept. 14 seven-day moving average peak of just over 4,100. But they seem to have also plateaued starting Oct. 21 with a seven-day moving average peak between 1,550 and 1,650.
According to the state’s vaccine dashboard, 57.6 percent of Hoosiers aged 12 and over have been fully vaccinated. But vaccination rates vary widely by zip code.
The number of fully vaccinated Hoosiers may increase in the coming weeks — on Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control recommended Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for all children ages 5 to 11.
Parents can sign their kids up for appointments by visiting ourshot.in.gov.
All WVPE listener counties in both Indiana and Michigan still have “high” community spread of the virus according to the Centers for Disease Control. That means both vaccinated and unvaccinated Hoosiers should wear masks indoors.
Contact Jakob at jlazzaro@wvpe.org or follow him on Twitter at @JakobLazzaro.
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