Inform, Entertain, Inspire
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

St. Joseph, LaPorte, LaGrange counties back in ‘red’ on Indiana’s COVID-19 tracking map

Indiana Department of Health

Three WVPE listener counties are back in the most severe “red” category, indicating unchecked community spread of COVID-19, on Indiana’s coronavirus tracking map.

St. Joseph, LaPorte and LaGrange counties rejoined Starke and Marshall counties in the “red” category while Kosciusko County dropped to the “orange” category, which indicates high spread of the virus.

All other WVPE listener counties remained in the “orange.”

Hospitalizations have remained steady in Healthcare District Two, which covers most of the WVPE listening area, but are still near the peak of the winter 2020 surge.

As of Tuesday, there were 260 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, and 2 more who are suspected to have the disease for a total of 262.

That’s a few less than last Tuesday's 269 — and a significant drop from 325 on Dec. 22 — but only 11.9 percent of area ICU beds are available, a slight increase from last week.

Statewide, 48 Indiana counties are in the “red,” and the state’s remaining 44 counties are in the “orange.” COVID cases have also significantly increased.

On Tuesday, Indiana reported 12,937 new cases — passing the record set last week — and the seven-day moving average was 9,251.

Between Oct. 21 and Nov. 3, the seven-day moving average plateaued between 1,550 and 1,650.

Statewide, 10.2 percent of ICU beds are available with hospitalizations near the peak of the winter 2020 surge.

Riley Children’s Hospital is treating record numbers of COVID-19 patients and the department of health is limiting the availability of rapid tests at state-run sites due to shortages. PCR tests are still available to all Hoosiers.

According to Indiana’s vaccine dashboard, 59.4 percent of Hoosiers aged 12 and older and 54.8 percent of Hoosiers aged 5 and older are fully vaccinated.

In addition, about 40 percent of fully vaccinated Hoosiers have received COVID-19 booster shots. But 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 Michiganders and Hoosiers should wear masks indoors.

Contact Jakob at jlazzaro@wvpe.org or follow him on Twitter at @JakobLazzaro.

If you appreciate this kind of journalism on your local NPR station, please support it by donating here.

Jakob Lazzaro came to Indiana from Chicago, where he graduated from Northwestern University in 2020 with a degree in Journalism and a double major in History. Before joining WVPE, he wrote NPR's Source of the Week e-mail newsletter, and previously worked for CalMatters, Pittsburgh's 90.5 WESA and North by Northwestern.