Jay shifts back to yellow

Jay County spent four weeks at the highest level of risk for spread of coronavirus.

Now, it’s the only county in the state that has dropped to moderate.

Jay County was rated “yellow” (moderate risk) when Indiana State Department of Health updated its county metrics Wednesday.

While the local picture has been improving, the story is different statewide. Forty-five of Indiana’s 92 counties were in the severe risk category this week. The other 46, including Adams, Wells, Blackford, Delaware and Randolph, were labeled orange (high risk).

The local rating was bumped up to red (severe risk) on the day before Thanksgiving and remained there for nearly a month. It dropped back to orange (high risk) last week before falling to yellow in the most recent update. (The county metrics are based on Sunday numbers, with changes announced weekly on Wednesday.)

“I’d like to believe that our medical professionals, our community leaders, various organizations all working together, individuals in this county all reacted to the fact that we did get to an elevated status and took preventative measures more seriously to get us out of that category,” said Jay County Health Department environmentalist and administrator Heath Butz.

The county metrics are based on weekly cases per 100,000 residents and seven-day positivity rate. Jay County’s case number, which at one point was near 1,000 per 100,000 residents, dipped to 190. Its positivity rate, once above 20%, was down to 9.4%.

Butz expressed optimism but also caution now that the county’s numbers have declined for consecutive weeks.

“We’re moving in the right direction but we still need to keep up with all those previous measures we’ve talked about the whole time to get to the light at the end of the tunnel, which is the vaccinations that are going to be coming,” he said.

As for when Jay County might begin to see COVID-19 vaccines become available, Butz said it would happen no earlier than mid-January. Even then, he added, supplies will be limited and the state department of health will dictate who is eligible.

Indiana chief medical officer Dr. Lindsay Weaver reiterated that point during Gov. Eric Holcomb’s weekly coronavirus briefing.

“The goal is to get vaccine in the arms at the highest risk in our health care settings,” Weaver said. "I want to stress that we are moving in a very intentional order of eligibility for vaccines. We want to ensure that we have enough vaccines before we open up vaccinations to additional groups.”

As of Wednesday’s state update, which includes cases reported through midnight Tuesday, Jay County had totaled 1,496 cases over the course of the pandemic. Numbers have dropped, though, with 393 cases this month compared to 684 in November.

The county’s number of new cases has been in single digits for 11 consecutive days. They had been in double digits every day from Nov. 1 through Dec. 4, with a high of 44 on Nov. 20.

Butz cautioned that the county could still see a spike following holiday celebrations. (Jay School Corporation will implement remote learning for the junior-senior high school next week in hopes of identifying any such cases before students return to their classrooms.) He recommended that Jay County residents continue to wear masks, social distance, stay home when sick and frequently wash their hands or use hand sanitizer.

“Just stay safe out there and hopefully we can get to the end of this quicker,” he said.

Coronavirus is mainly spread through respiratory droplets or small particles from an infected person coughing, sneezing, talking or breathing. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that it may be possible those particles and droplets remain suspended in the air for an unknown period of time and travel beyond 6 feet, especially indoors.

CDC guidelines encourage wearing a mask and avoiding close contact when around others and frequent hand washing and surface cleaning as ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The virus causes a range of symptoms, which can appear two to 14 days after exposure. Older adults and those with pre-existing health problems are susceptible to more severe illnesses.