Back to orange

Jay County has shifted back to orange.

If positive trends hold, it could move to yellow next week.

In the Indiana State Department of Health update Wednesday, Jay County was rated “orange” (high risk for the spread of coronavirus) after three consecutive weeks at “red’ (extreme risk).

The local shift came because of a drop in the seven-day positivity rate, one of the two metrics the state department of health uses to assess coronavirus risk. The positivity rate came in at 11.36%, down from 15.47% last week. (The threshold for red is 15%.)

Jay County’s cases per 100,000 residents also dropped significantly to 225, down from 548 last week. It had been above 800 earlier this month.

Local numbers have continued to come down in the last few days — the state’s Wednesday update is based on Sunday’s numbers — to an 8.1% positivity rate and 186 cases per 100,000 residents. If those numbers hold or continue to decline through Sunday, Jay County would be rated “yellow” (moderate risk) next week.

Jay County’s new confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been in single digits for six consecutive days. After averaging 20.5 cases per day in the first half of the month, the county has dipped to 6.7 over the last 10 days.

The state map showed improvement as well, with 27 counties rated red this week. (That’s down from 35 last week.) The remaining 65 were rated orange.

Adams, Wells, Blackford, Delaware and Randolph counties were all rated orange.

While cases have dipped recently, hospitalization numbers in District 6, which includes Jay County, remain high. Hospitals in the district have been treating at least 350 COVID-19 patients for the last two weeks, with the number peaking at 380. (In early November, the number was at 127.)

Dr. Jeff Bird, president of IU Health’s east central region, told The Star Press this week that hospitalization numbers are “horrible” and “unprecedented.” He encouraged area residents to get vaccinated to help bring the spread of COVID-19 under control.

IU Health Jay president Jon Vanator, who works under Bird, had noted last week that 85% of those hospitalized with COVID-19 are unvaccinated.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to report that vaccination is the best way to prevent the spread of COVID-19. (It also recommends that masks be worn indoors 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 38.2%. Marion County is highest in the state at 76.2%.

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.