All but 13 counties are in the least serious “blue” category on Indiana’s COVID-19 tracking map this week.
In the WVPE listening area, all but two counties are in the blue, which indicates low spread of the virus. Pulaski and Fulton County are still in the “yellow” category, which indicates moderate spread.
But there are no Hoosier counties in any of the more serious color categories. This is the second week in a row with no “orange” counties, indicating high spread of the virus, and the third with no “red” counties, indicating unchecked spread.
Only 13 counties remain in the yellow statewide. The last time the map showed this many blue counties was June of last year, almost 9 months ago.
New cases continue to decline statewide — the state reported only 31 new cases Tuesday, a 93 percent decrease from the beginning of the month.
Hospitalizations remain low in Healthcare District 2, which covers most of the WVPE listening area. As of Tuesday, there were only 36 reported COVID-19 hospitalizations.
However, ICU numbers have changed since last week. Roughly 23 percent of area ICU beds are now available, compared to last week’s 40.4 percent. And 7.3 percent of those beds are occupied by COVID-19 patients, considerably higher than last week’s 1.8 percent.
According to the state vaccine dashboard, 56.7 percent of eligible Hoosiers are fully vaccinated. In addition, 46.8 percent of fully vaccinated residents have received a booster shot.
But vaccination rates still vary widely by zip code.
Contact Gemma at gdicarlo@wvpe.org or follow her on Twitter at @gemma_dicarlo.
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