Most WVPE listener counties and the majority of the state are now in the lowest risk “blue” category on Indiana’s COVID-19 tracking map.
Last week, St. Joseph, Starke and LaGrange counties dropped into the “blue” category. The last time any area counties were in the “blue” was seven months ago at the start of August 2021.
This week, St. Joseph County is still “blue,” and it’s been joined by Elkhart, LaPorte, Marshall, Fulton and Kosciusko counties.
But Starke and LaGrange counties have rejoined Pulaski in the “yellow” category, which indicates moderate spread.
The situation continues to improve statewide. Seven weeks ago, all 92 Indiana counties were in the “red,” which indicates unchecked community spread of the virus.
But now, 56 Indiana counties are “blue,” with the remaining 36 all in the “yellow” category.
New statewide COVID-19 cases have remained low. On Monday, the state reported 296 cases, a 98.3 percent decrease from the one-day case record of 17,489 on Jan. 20.
Last week’s Feb. 28 case total has been revised up to 490 from the preliminary 255, but that’s still 97.1 percent less than the one-day case record.
Hospitalizations have continued decreasing in Healthcare District Two, which covers most of the WVPE listening area.
As of Tuesday, there were 30 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, down from 57 on March 1. Currently, 40.4 percent of area ICU beds are available — 8.3 percentage points better than last week’s 32.1 percent, and more than double the statewide average of 19.9 percent.
Only 1.8 percent of area ICU beds are occupied by COVID patients.
According to Indiana’s vaccine dashboard, 56.7 percent of Hoosiers aged 5 and older and 60.7 percent of Hoosiers aged 12 and older are fully vaccinated.
In addition, 46.7 percent of fully vaccinated Hoosiers have received COVID-19 booster shots.
But vaccination rates still vary widely by zip code.
Contact Jakob at jlazzaro@wvpe.org or follow him on Twitter at @JakobLazzaro.
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