Jay stays blue

Make it blue times two.

Jay County was rated “blue” (minimal risk for the spread of coronavirus) for the second week in a row in the metrics Indiana State Department of Health updated Wednesday.

The county had been rated “yellow” (moderate) risk during the previous two weeks. It was at high or severe risk from Oct. 28 through Dec. 29.

Jay County stayed in the blue range as its COVID-19 numbers continued to decline in the metrics the state uses to determine the ratings. Its cases per 100,000 residents dipped to 34 from 63 the previous week, and its positivity rate fell to 2.24% from 4.73%.

The number of cases of COVID-19 locally have plummeted this month, coming in at just 2.3 per day as of Wednesday. That’s down from 6.9 in January and the high of 22.8 in November. The county recorded no new cases Monday or Tuesday.

That pattern held true statewide as for the second consecutive week no counties were rated “red” (severe risk). Thirty-eight counties joined Jay with blue rankings, while 50 were yellow and just three were orange (high risk).

Adams, Blackford, Delaware and Randolph counties were all rated blue this week. Wells County remained yellow.

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb said Wednesday that despite the numbers moving in the right direction, he plans to extend the state’s health emergency and restrictions for another 30 days.

“We have made remarkable progress in a relatively short period of time,” he said. “But this is not a mission accomplished moment — far from it.”

Jay County now has three vaccination clinics — at Jay County Health Department, IU Health Jay and Walmart. The vaccination at the health department runs from 11:15 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays as well as 8:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. Saturdays, and the clinic at the hospital has appointments from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

As of Wednesday, 2,764 first doses of the coronavirus vaccine had been administered in Jay County. The total for Indiana was nearly 921,000.

The state department of health on Monday extended appointments for vaccinations to make them available to Hoosiers 60 and older. Previously it was available only to those 65 and older. Those interested in making an appointment can do so online at ourshot.in.gov or by calling the state’s 2-1-1 telephone assistance service.

Clinics in counties adjacent to Jay are at Adams Memorial Hospital in Decatur, Adams County Health Department, Kroger in Decatur, Wells County Health Department, IU Health Blackford, Blackford County Health Department, Randolph County Health Department and the Walmart store in?Winchester.

There are nine sites in Delaware County including IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital, Delaware County Health Department and several pharmacies.

State officials on Wednesday stressed the importance of following guidelines for shot eligibility. Several clinics that have “ignored” those guidelines will not receive any more first-dose vaccines, state health commissioner Dr. Kristina Box said, though she declined to indicate where or how many such vaccination sites would be affected.

“We are not trying to be the vaccine police, that is the last thing we want to be,” she said. “We are trying to ensure that we have ethical and equitable access to the vaccine across all 92 counties, based on what the data show are the highest risk individuals here in the state of Indiana. We cannot achieve that goal if sites deviate from the guidelines.”

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.