County moves back to yellow

Jay County has dropped back to the second-lowest rating in the state’s coronavirus risk metrics.

And the state map reverted to all blue and yellow.

Jay County shifted from “orange” (high risk) to “yellow” (moderate risk) as part of a state trend that showed improvement in Wednesday’s update from Indiana State Department of Health.

After recording an orange rating for each of the last two weeks, Jay County shifted back to yellow as its numbers dropped for both of the measures the state uses in its metrics.

The county’s confirmed cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 residents was slashed by more than half, dropping to 58 this week. It had been 137 last week and 229 in the May 12 update.

The local positivity rate was cut nearly in half to 7.74%, down from 13.75% a week ago. It had been as low as 1.87% in mid-March.

Jay County was rated “blue” (low risk) or yellow for 14 consecutive weeks before climbing back to orange in the May 12 update. The change came because of a spike that saw 40 cases in the span of just four days from May 5 through 8. Numbers have been down since then, with just two cases reported in the last four days. (No new cases were reported Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday.)

After three other counties joined Jay with orange ratings last week, none in Indiana were rated orange or “red” (extreme risk) this week. Fifty-nine counties were rated blue, up from 48 last week, and 33 were rated yellow. In the area, Randolph County was rated yellow while Wells, Adams, Blackford and Delaware counties were all blue.

Vaccination clinics continue to be open at Jay County Health Department and IU Health Jay. Appointments can be made online at ourshot.in.gov or by calling the state’s 2-1-1 telephone assistance service. 

The health department has also opened its vaccination clinic to walk-ins from noon to 6 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

As of Wednesday, 11,157 doses of coronavirus vaccine had been administered in Jay County. So far, 5,425 individuals — about 31% of those 12-and-older who are eligible — have been fully vaccinated.

About 5.1 million doses have been administered statewide with nearly 2.5 million fully vaccinated.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines encourage wearing a mask indoors, avoiding close contact when around others, frequent hand washing and surface cleaning as ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19. They say those who have been vaccinated do not need to wear a mask except for in close-contact group settings such as airports and theaters.

Most coronavirus-related restrictions have been lifted in Indiana, with the exception of those regarding schools. Those guidelines expire Monday, and Jay School Corporation has announced that masks will no longer be required in schools beginning Tuesday.

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 of time 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.