Jay stays rated orange

The county’s COVID-19 numbers ticked up slightly this week.

The result was another week rated at high risk.

In Indiana State Department of Health’s update Wednesday, Jay County was rated “orange” (high risk for the spread of coronavirus), for the sixth consecutive week.

After the county had seen gradual declines for a couple of weeks, its numbers went back up a bit this week in the statistics the state uses to determine coronavirus risk levels. The county’s cases per 100,000 residents came in at 362, up from 332 the previous week. Its seven-day positivity rate was 9.48%, up from 9.12% a week earlier.

Of the state’s 92 counties, 66 were rated orange this week. That includes Adams, Wells, Blackford, Delaware and Randolph counties.

Twenty-five counties, including Henry County, were rated “red” (extreme risk). Only one — Tippecanoe County — was “yellow” (moderate risk) and none were “blue” (low risk).

The Associated Press reported that Indiana had 2,436 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 on Tuesday, 251 fewer than the latest peak two weeks ago but still nearly double the number of mid-August and a level not seen since January, according to state health data. Meanwhile, 685 COVID-19 patients were being treated in intensive care units, accounting for 30.8% of the available beds in the state’s ICUs, which were at nearly 82% capacity. Over the course of the last two weeks, ICU admission rates have reached the highest levels recorded this year.

In response to the surge, IU Health has halted all elective surgeries.