All of Indiana’s 92 counties are in the most severe “red” category on the state’s COVID-19 tracking map for the second week in a row.
Last week was the first time every single Indiana county was in the “red,” which indicates unchecked community spread of COVID-19, but all WVPE listener counties have been “red” since Jan. 12.
And things haven’t changed this week.
But in a potential positive sign, statewide COVID cases may be decreasing from the peak of the omicron wave. On Tuesday, Indiana reported 5,440 new cases and the seven-day moving average was 12,101.
That’s a sizable drop from the one-day case record of 17,275 set Jan. 21.
Between Oct. 21 and Nov. 3, the seven-day moving average plateaued between 1,550 and 1,650.
Hospitalizations continue to remain 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 277 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and 11 more suspected of having the disease for a total of 288.
That’s a slight decrease from last Tuesday’s 293, and 19.5 percent of area ICU beds are available — eight percentage points better than the statewide average of 11.5 percent.
Currently, 3,204 Hoosiers are hospitalized with COVID-19, 315 less than the Jan. 13 peak of 3,519.
According to Indiana’s vaccine dashboard, 55.8 percent of Hoosiers aged 5 and older and 60.1 percent of Hoosiers aged 12 and older are fully vaccinated.
In addition, about 45 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.
