After 9 months of dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic, three Southern Indiana counties have crossed into the “Red” zone for Indiana’s health department, indicating a high-rate of the spread of the Coronavirus. 

Scott, Jackson and Washington County were all classified in the highest’s ranking during the pandemic so far. 

The maps and scores are updated each Wednesday. 

According to the Washington County Health Department in a statement yesterday, the county could hold on to this designation for two weeks before the designation is moved back to “Orange.”

There are three factors taken into consideration when assigning colors by the ISDH:

7-Day All Tests Positivity Rate

• ■ Less than 5% (0)
• ■ 5% to 9.9% (1)
• ■ 10% to 14.9% (2)
• ■ 15% or greater (3)

The state uses two metrics to calculate the score — the 7 Day All Positive Rate and the Weekly Cases Per 100,000 Residents. 

To calculate each county’s new score, the Indiana Department of Health identities all new positive cases that were collected and resulted in the period from Monday through Sunday. This number is then divided by each county’s total county population and multiplied by 100,000.

After calculating the individual scores for each of the metrics, the two scores are averaged
together to determine the total county score.

Scott, Jackson, and Washington all scored “3” on the map which indicates the highest color rating and a rate of positive increase of 15 percent or greater and weekly cases of 200 or more. 

Changes in the map from last week include:

• Lake County – No change (RED)
• Newton County – Moved from Red to Orange
• White County – Moved from Orange to Red
• Warren County – Moved from Orange to Red 
• Parke County – No change (RED)
• Sullivan County – Moved from Red to Orange
• Jackson County – Moved from Orange to Red
• Scott County – Moved from Orange to Red
• Washington County – Moved from Orange to Red 
• Switzerland County – Moved from Orange to Yellow
• Dearborn County – No change (RED)
• Ripley County – Moved from Red to Orange
• Franklin County – Moved from Red to Orange
• Fayette County – Moved from Red to Orange
• Rush County – Moved from Yellow to Orange
• Elkhart County – Moved from Red to Orange
• LaGrange County – No change (RED)
• Steuben County – Moved from Red to Orange
• DeKalb County – Moved from Orange to Red
• Whitley County – No change (RED)
• Allen County – No change (RED)
• Wabash County – No change (RED)
• Grant County – No change (RED)
• Blackford County – No change (RED)
• Jay County – No change (RED)

A Covid-19 testing site is being set up at Salem High School beginning at 9a on December 8. 

The Indiana State Department of Health and Washington County Health Department are partnering with Salem Community Schools to host the Covid testing site. 

The clinic will be held from 9am-6pm December 8-12^th (Tuesday- Saturday) at the Salem High School gymnasium 700 N. Harrison Street in Salem.   

According to Alicia Thompson of the health department, those being tested are asked to  use the parking lot located on Shelby Street and only enter through the designated doors.

“We are not aware of which tests the state will be utilizing,” said Thompson. “Results typically take 3-5 days but is dependent on how busy the labs are that run the test.”

Thompson said testing will be available to all members of the public, regardless of symptoms.

She said children as young as 2 years of age can be tested with parental consent.

Hoosiers will not be charged for testing and insurance is not required.

If you have private health insurance, please bring that information with you.

Pre-registration is not required.

Masks must be worn while awaiting your turn for testing.

Additional testing locations around the state can be found here – https://lhi.care/covidtesting

Due to the anticipated move of Washington County to a “Red” status on the state’s Covid-19 map, local health officer Dr. Jeff Morgan ordered yesterday the move of all students to online learning beginning today. 

There has been much back and forth since August with in-person education and moves to a mix of virtual and in-person when there are cases of Covid-19 reported. 

The latest moves by Morgan sent all middle and high school students home before Thanksgiving while allowing elementary students to continue to attend in-person. 

Students had returned to school on November 30 in Washington County in a hybrid mix of in-person and virtual learning, but will completely stay at home beginning today. 

“We were hoping to finish the semester with in-person and hybrid learning,” said Salem Schools Superintendent Jon Acton.

“Unfortunately the rising Covid numbers have moved us to Remote Learning for the fourth time this school year.  These are not the circumstances we hoped to work within, but we will continue to educate our children, provide emotional support, and do our best regardless of circumstances.”

Action said the school will announce food pick up and delivery plans by Friday for the next two weeks.  

East Washington Schools has a link for parents to fill out for meals to be delivered by school buses over the next couple of weeks. 

Indiana’s Governor Eric Holcomb extended the state’s public health emergency today through Dec. 31. It was the 9th time he’s extended the order for mask and additional mandates regarding the Coronavirus. 

Indiana has been under a public health emergency for 270 days.

“The spread of the disease in the Hoosier state has increased significantly over the past 30 days, as demonstrated by a 7-day average positivity rate of over 10%, an increase from under 4% ten weeks ago; new confirmed cases daily; increased hospitalizations, and tragically, continued deaths from COVID-19,” said Holcomb.

You can read the executive order here – Executive-Order-20-49-Ninth-Renewal-of-Emergency-Declaration (1)

The news comes on the same day that Indiana health officials reported 5,518 new cases of the coronavirus and 142 new deaths  – the most reported in any single day to date.

The updated figures bring Indiana’s total coronavirus toll to 5,598 deaths and 344,373 cases.

Holcomb first issued the Public Health Emergency executive order on March 6.

Indiana code dictates that a disaster emergency can only be in effect for 30 days unless renewed by the governor. 

Indiana now ranks second in the nation for COVID-19 hospitalizations per capita, according to new data. 

Roughly 50 out of every 100,000 Hoosiers are now hospitalized with COVID-19, an increase from last week that builds on an alarming trend that is straining the state’s hospital system. 

Only South Dakota at 61 per 100,000 is doing worse, according to the IndyStar analysis of data from the COVID Tracking Project, an initiative led by journalists, scientists and others since the pandemic began.

But while South Dakota has about 480 hospital beds per 100,000 people, according to a 2018 survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, Indiana has about 270. 

“The current hospitalization trends are alarming and are straining Indiana’s hospitals’ ability to care for all patients, including those with COVID 19,” said Brian Tabor, president of the Indiana Hospital Association in an emailed statement.

“Hospitals across the state are struggling with staffing issues as the number of cases has grown. Each one of us must commit to doing our part to reduce the spread of this terrible disease so that all Hoosiers can access the care that they need 24/7.”

Less than two weeks ago, Indiana led 44 other states in hospitalizations, but the number of patients hospitalized for COVID treatment across the state has increased since to 3,401. In the spring the number of people hospitalized never broke 2,000.

While new coronavirus cases dipped over the weekend — perhaps because fewer people got tested during the holiday weekend — the number of patients hospitalized for COVID now exceeds any other time in the pandemic.

The count dipped slightly from Wednesday to Thursday but otherwise has been on the rise for the past 10 days.