Almost all WVPE listener counties have maintained their color status from last week on Indiana’s COVID-19 tracking map. But LaGrange County has joined Fulton County in the “red,” indicating unchecked community spread of the virus.
That’s quite a change from two weeks ago, when LaGrange was the only area county still in the “yellow,” indicating moderate spread of the virus.
Last week, all WVPE listener counties except for Fulton were in the “orange” category, which indicates high spread of COVID-19. And all except LaGrange remained “orange” this week.
That parallels the statewide situation — only Tippecanoe County is still in the “yellow.” The vast majority of Indiana counties are in the “orange,” and 25 are in the “red.”
But hospitalizations may be decreasing in Healthcare District 2, which covers most of the WVPE listening area. As of Tuesday, there are currently 152 people hospitalized with COVID-19.
That’s a drop from a high of 179 on Monday, and 175 last Wednesday. And 19.2 percent of area ICU beds are available, an increase from 11 percent last week.
The statewide surge in cases has been driven by the highly contagious Delta variant and underwhelming levels of vaccination. Indiana surpassed 900,000 confirmed cases last week, and some hospitals are in “full crisis mode.”
The state is currently averaging around 3,400 new cases per day — about half of the December peak — and 32 deaths per day, about a third of the December peak.
According to the state’s vaccine dashboard, 55 percent of Hoosiers aged 12 and over have been fully vaccinated. But vaccination rates vary widely by zip code.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, every Indiana county has “high” community spread of the virus, meaning both vaccinated and unvaccinated Hoosiers should wear masks indoors.
WVPE’s three Michigan counties – Berrien, Cass and St. Joseph – also currently have “high” community spread.
Contact Jakob at jlazzaro@wvpe.org or follow him on Twitter at @JakobLazzaro.
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