Jay still blue, but COVID numbers are up

Jay County remained at the state’s lowest risk level for spread of coronavirus.

But there has been a recent increase in cases of COVID-19, both locally and statewide.

Jay County was rated “blue” (low risk for the spread of coronavirus) for the 10th consecutive week in Indiana State Department of Health’s update of county metrics Wednesday.

The local numbers that make up the county metrics came in at 44 cases per 100,000 residents and a seven-day positivity rate of 2.21%. (The weekly Wednesday update is based on Sunday’s numbers.) In order for Jay County to move into the “yellow” (moderate risk) range for the first time since May, either its cases per 100,000 would need to increase to 100 or higher or its positivity rate to 5% or higher.

The county’s 14 confirmed new cases from July 28 through Aug. 3 were the most for a seven-day span since May 16 through 22. (Jay County had 20 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in July, one more than in June and seven more than July 2020.)

Though not close to the highs seen in late fall and early winter, the state has seen an increase in new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations recently.

Indiana’s daily number of new cases of COVID-19 was hovering below 200 per day just a few weeks ago. It has been over 1,000 eight of the last nine days, including 1,774 Tuesday.

After being mostly blue in the early summer, Indiana’s map had just 13 counties at the low-risk level this week. Forty-nine counties were yellow, 29 were orange (high risk) and one — Posey — was red (high risk).

Statewide hospitalizations, which were below 400 a couple of weeks ago, have climbed to more than 900.

“Until we increase our vaccination rates, and unless we use every tool available to us to stop the spread of disease, this virus will continue to have the advantage," state health commissioner Dr. Kristina Box said in a press conference Friday. “It will continue to mutate, and we will be constantly playing whack a mole for the foreseeable future.”

Vaccination clinics in Jay County are available at Jay County Health Department, CVS in both Portland and Dunkirk, and Walgreens in Portland.

As of Tuesday, 6,168 individuals in Jay County — about 36.2% of those eligible — have been fully vaccinated. About 5.92 million doses have been administered statewide with about 2.96 million fully vaccinated.

Indiana is not currently under any coronavirus-related restrictions, though the state remains under a health emergency through at least Aug. 31. (The health emergency has been in effect since March 2020.) The Centers for Disease Control and prevention recommends wearing a mask indoors for those who are in an area of “substantial or high transmission.”

Coronavirus is mainly spread through respiratory droplets or small particles from an infected person coughing, sneezing, talking or breathing. The CDC reports that it may be possible those particles and droplets remain suspended in the air for an unknown period and travel beyond 6 feet, especially indoors. The virus causes a range of symptoms, including fever and shortness of breath, which can appear two to 14 days after exposure.