TOP STORY OF THE DAY, brought to you free by WICU: ISDH Dashboard moves county to ORANGE, COVID-19 Resource Guide announced

Indiana State Department of Health - Weekly Cases per 100,000 Residents

As of noon Wednesday, the Indiana State Department of Health’s COVID-19 Dashboard moved Clay County into the ORANGE Advisory Category of the 2-Week Metric Score. The RED category currently has 13; four are in YELLOW, with the remaining 75 counties in ORANGE (www.coronavirus.in.gov/).

The ISDH Dashboard’s Advisory Category of the 2-Week Metric Score level refers to the current guidelines the county must follow. A county has to remain for two consecutive weeks with lower scores to drop to a lower advisory level.

The county’s “good news” could be short-lived because the Delta Variant of COVID-19 is spreading aggressively across Indiana: Data provided in ISDH’s Weekly Cases per 100,000 Residents (the total of positive cases in the past seven days) might be the key. A current map on the dashboard shows one county in YELLOW, two are in ORANGE, and the remaining counties are in RED, including Clay County and all of District 7.

In District 7, Parke, and Sullivan counties are now in RED, with Clay, Greene, Putnam, Owen, Vermillion, and Vigo counties in ORANGE.

While Clay, Greene, Owen, and Vermillion’s positivity ratings for the past week are trending downward, surrounding counties Parke, Putnam, Sullivan, and Vigo continue to spike.

COVID-19 Resource Guide

On Thursday, September 2, 2021, the ISDH released a COVID-19 Resource Guide for Hoosiers looking for assistance. Information covers how to find data for Indiana and National, as well as links to:

Travel guidance, state parks, restaurants,

Unemployment benefits,

Child care assistance,

Family assistance (including mental health, housing, food, and utility assistance),

Legal support,

School, and

Community information.

Tips on talking with children about coronavirus, food safety, and pets are also included.

A copy of the guide will be available online at www.thebraziltimes.com. For more information about the COVID-19 pandemic in Indiana, log onto https://www.coronavirus.in.gov/.