Still red

Jay County is still red.

And though cases in the area look to be headed in the right direction, hospitals are seeing a record patient surge.

Indiana State Department of Health’s update Wednesday showed the county as “red” (extreme risk for the spread of coronavirus) for the third week in a row and the fifth time in the last six weeks.

Jay County’s numbers in the two statistics the state department of health uses to determine coronavirus risk levels both came down this week.

Its cases per 100,000 residents came in at 548. That’s down from 689 a week earlier but still well above the threshold (200) for being rated red.

The local seven-day positivity rate was 15.47%, down from 18.8% last week. (The threshold for red is 15%.)

While the numbers showed some improvement, IU Health Jay president Jon Vanator said Wednesday that the system’s east central region — Ball Memorial, Blackford and Jay — posted its highest COVID-19 patient counts and highest number of those on ventilators for the entire pandemic this week. IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital, which has stopped all elective surgeries, had 96 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 including 30 on ventilators. IU Health Jay had eight COVID-19 positive patients.

Vanator noted that IU Health Jay has had staffing challenges during the holiday season that are limiting the number of patients the hospital can admit. (The Indiana National Guard has been providing assistance with six members who were recently approved for a second two-week stint that will run through Jan. 10.)

Hospitals in District 6, which includes Jay County, have been hovering around the 350 mark for COVID-19 patients for the last two weeks. The number was 359 as of Tuesday.

Asked if there is a common denominator among those hospitalized during the COVID-19 surge, Vanator indicated their vaccination status. He said the most recent statistics available from the IU Health system show 85% of those hospitalized with COVID-19 are unvaccinated. Ninety-two percent of those in critical care for COVID-19 are unvaccinated, and 95% of those on ventilators because of COVID-19 are unvaccinated.

Vaccination is the best way to prevent the spread of COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (It is also recommended by the CDC that masks be worn in doors in areas of “substantial or high transmission,” which includes Jay County.) The vaccine is available to all Hoosiers 5 and older. Boosters are now available to and recommended for everyone 18 and older.

The state’s website indicates Jay County currently has eight vaccination sites — CVS in Portland and Dunkirk, Walgreens in Portland and Jay County Health Department, as well as IU Health Jay and its primary care provider practices. (Vaccines for children 5 to 11 years old are available only at the health department and the IU Health Jay sites.)

Jay County continues to rank sixth-lowest in vaccination rate among Indiana’s 92 counties. Its rate is 38.1%. Marion County is highest in the state at 75.8%.

In the area, Jay County was the only county rated red this week, as Adams, Wells, Blackford, Delaware and Randolph counties all came in at “orange” (high risk). Statewide, 35 counties were rated red and the remaining 57 were orange.

Jay County has recorded 2,126 cases of COVID-19 thus far this year and 3,631 overall. Of its 54 COVID-19 deaths during the pandemic, 15 have come since Oct. 1.

Coronavirus is mainly spread through droplets or particles from an infected person coughing, sneezing, talking or breathing. 

The virus causes a range of symptoms, including fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion, runny nose, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, which can appear two to 14 days after exposure.