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"The Tide Has Turned Decisively." SB & St. Joe Co. Leaders Give Last Regular COVID-19 Update

Screenshot captured via Facebook

At the last regular COVID-19 update on Friday, St. Joseph County and South Bend leaders said the tide of the pandemic has turned decisively in the county.

Deputy Health Officer Dr. Mark Fox says the county’s seven-day rolling average of new cases is at its lowest point since September of last year, with the exception of a “historical data dump” on May 15 that resulted in a one-day case spike. 

 

Fox said those cases date back to February, and aren’t a result of the CDC’s updated mask guidance.

 

Fox said hospitalizations have also dropped over the last two months, from the high 40s and 50s in April and early May to about 35 now. However, he said hospitals continue to see younger patients, and “almost exclusively” people who haven’t been vaccinated.

 

He also said the county’s R0 value, which measures how contagious the virus is in the county, has been elevated lately. 

 

“I don’t have a great explanation for that except that our pool of susceptible individuals in the county is smaller,” he said. “People who have been vaccinated are no longer susceptible, people with recent infections are no longer susceptible, so the number of cases that we have are happening among a smaller pool.”

 

With only 40 percent of county residents fully vaccinated, leaders emphasized that the pandemic still isn’t over.

 

“This is the thing: it is within our power – our power – to eliminate COVID-19 from our lives once and for all,” South Bend Mayor James Mueller said. “We just have to choose to do it.”

 

Andy Kostielney, president of the county board of commissioners, also encouraged eligible residents to make an appointment at the county’s vaccination site at St. Hedwig Memorial Center.

 

“We’re not out of the woods, but we’re getting real close,” he said. “Please, even if you don’t believe in the importance of vaccination for yourself, do it for the people you love, the people you care about.” 

 

As life begins to return to normal in the county, leaders urged those who are still unvaccinated to continue wearing a mask in public spaces, especially indoors.

 

Contact Gemma atgdicarlo@wvpe.orgor follow her on Twitter at@gemma_dicarlo.

 

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Gemma DiCarlo came to Indiana by way of Athens, Georgia. She graduated from the University of Georgia in 2020 with a degree in Journalism and certificates in New Media and Sustainability. She has radio experience from her time as associate producer of Athens News Matters, the flagship public affairs program at WUGA-FM.
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