Jay County stays orange

Jay County is rated at high risk for the spread coronavirus for the third consecutive week.

In Indiana State Department of Health’s update Wednesday, Jay County was again rated “orange” (high risk for the spread of coronavirus) along with 74 other counties in the state at that level.

“We definitely have a lot of spread going on,” said Heath Butz, administrator and environmentalist for Jay County Health Department. “I think it’s important people are mindful of that and try to exercise precautions. This is a more infectious version, so it’s more likely to spread … 

“As you go out in the public and especially in gatherings and especially indoors, you’ll want to practice the precautions that you can, whether its masking, hand sanitizing, social distancing as much as you can.”

Numbers went up in both statistics the state uses to determine coronavirus risk levels. Jay County had 562 cases per 100,000 residents, up from 371 last week and just 44 in early August. Its seven-day positivity rate was 12.19%, up from 11.63% last week. (The threshold to move the county to “red” (high risk) is 15%.)

Jay County had 273 new cases of COVID-19 reported in August, more than five times as many as the August 2020 total. There were more than twice as many cases than any month since January, when the county recorded 215.

Adams, Wells, Blackford, Delaware and Randolph counties were all also rated orange. In Ohio, Mercer County had 271 new cases in August while Darke County had 376.

Jay County recorded more cases (115) in the seven-day period from Aug. 23 through 29 than in any full month since January. There were just three new cases reported Monday and one Tuesday.

Data provided Wednesday by Jay County Health Department shows recent cases have been fairly evenly distributed across age groups. That’s a shift from the early days of the pandemic, when the illness predominantly affected older age groups and those with compromised immune systems.

The health department data shows the most effected age group in August was 20 to 29 year olds with 46 total cases, 16.8% percent of the county’s total. Every 10-year increment from infant to 9 years old (28 cases, 10.3%) to 70-plus (25 cases, 9.2%) had at least 25 cases.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends vaccination as the best way to prevent illness and spread of COVID-19.

“COVID-19 vaccines are effective at helping protect against severe disease and death from variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 currently circulating, including the Delta variant,” the CDC says.

Through Wednesday, 33 Jay County residents, 14,078 Hoosiers and 638,689 Americans have died of COVID-19 during the coronavirus pandemic.

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

As of Tuesday, 6,522 individuals in Jay County — about 38.3% of those 12 and older — have been fully vaccinated.

Jay County’s vaccination rate ranks fifth-lowest in the state, ahead of only LaGrange, Miami, Switzerland and Daviess counties, though Butz said Monday that there has been a recent uptick in demand locally. Adams County is sixth-lowest.

About 3.1 million Hoosiers have been fully vaccinated.

“The first line of defense ultimately is getting the vaccination,” said Butz. “It’s the best thing you can do right now.”

Indiana is not currently under any coronavirus-related restrictions, though the state remains under a health emergency and Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb on Wednesday announced incentives for schools that implement mask-wearing policies. (See related story.) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends wearing a mask indoors for those who are in an area of “substantial or high transmission,” which includes Jay County.

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.