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COVID-19 cases increase again
Clay County is up to 69 positive COVID-19 cases as of Thursday, July 16, according to the Clay County Health Department. Clay County Health Nurse Kim Hyatt confirmed no Clay County resident is hospitalized at this time due to the virus.
The number of reported deaths remains at five, with all other diagnosed cases reported either in recovery or have recovered.
The Indiana State Department of Health’s website data shows much of the current COVID-19 data for the eight counties in Dist 7 are trending upwards, including:
• VIGO - 273 Positive Cases among the 7,658 tested, with eight deaths.
• GREENE - 202 Positive Cases among the 2,447 tested, with 33 deaths (one new).
• PUTNAM - 180 Positive Cases among the 2,953 tested, with eight deaths.
• CLAY - 69 Positive Cases among the 1,912 tested, with five deaths.
• SULLIVAN - 62 Positive Cases among the 1,731 tested, with one death.
• OWEN - 54 Positive Cases among the 1,837 tested, with one death.
• PARKE - 28 Positive Cases among the 952 tested, with no deaths reported.
• VERMILLION - 20 Positive Cases among the 921 tested, with no deaths reported.
District 7 shows a positive COVID-19 test rate at 4.4 percent, with the total of residents tested at 20,411 (154 new test results) and confirmation of a total 888 cases, with 38 new cases reported since Monday.
The ISDH reports overall 54,080 positive cases among the 6.7 million Indiana residents, with 595,558 residents tested, and 2,602 deaths reported. The state’s data suggests that the increasing number of Indiana residents tested has lowered the overall percentage of Indiana residents to 9.1 percent. (The data is provisional, reflecting only the information published to the ISDH.)
Indiana residents whose physician listed their death with COVID-19 as a contributing cause remains stable at 193: Deaths diagnosed by medical staff based on X-rays, scans, and other clinical symptoms with the absence of a COVID-19 test.
On Monday, the ISDH reported patients hospitalized with COVID-19 reached a high of 1,799 on April 13 and dropped to a low of 595 on June 26. Since then, the number of hospitalized patients is increasing throughout the state. A new high of 881 hospitalizations was reported Tuesday, with a small drop to 857 published Wednesday.
Due to the trend in rising numbers of COVID-19 positive cases around the state reported by Indiana State Health Commissioner Dr. Kris Box during a Wednesday press conference by Gov. Eric Holcomb, Indiana will remain in “Phase 4.5” of a five-phase reopening plan for at least the next two weeks.
In “Phase 4.5”, restaurants are limited to 75-percent capacity, while bars, bowling alleys, theaters, nightclubs, casinos, and museums, which were allowed to reopen three weeks ago, will remain at 50 percent. Box said the virus spreads 19 times more easily indoors than outdoors, so the capacity limits are most important in those places.
It was also announced that future events, like festivals, will have to be approved by the state department of health, based on local conditions.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US), there are 3,416,428 cases reported in the United States (60,971 new cases reported), with 135,991 deaths (773 new deaths).
With summer in full swing, many people are asking if mosquitoes or ticks can spread the virus that causes COVID-19. At this time, the CDC has no data to suggest if mosquitoes or ticks spread this new coronavirus or other similar coronaviruses. The primary way that COVID-19 spreads are from person to person contact.
The World Health Organization lists COVID-19 in 216 countries, areas, or territories with confirmed cases reported at 13,378,853 and confirmed deaths at 580,045 as of July 16, 2020.
