HANCOCK COUNTY — Hancock County remained in the “red” COVID-19 advisory status for a second week on Wednesday, Dec. 16, with indicators in the county pointing to a very high level of community spread of the virus.
The red status is the most severe in the Indiana State Health Department’s ranking, based on weekly cases per 100,000 residents and seven-day positivity rates. The two are combined in a two-metric score. If a county’s score trends downward for two weeks in a row, it may be moved to a lesser advisory category.
Hancock County’s score this week was 2.5 on the scale. If the score is the same or less next week, the county may move back to the orange category, representing high community spread. The county has a current seven-day positivity rate of 13.5%, down from last week, and a case rate per 100,000 of 767.
Red counties are limited to in-person gatherings of 25 people or less, and are advised to take other precautions to reduce transmission.
Every county in Indiana remained on either the red or orange advisory level this week.
Hancock County reported 91 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, with no new deaths. The number of new tests administered was 648. The state as a whole reported 125 new deaths, and 6,283. Its seven-day positivity is 12.5%.
During his regularly weekly news conference, Gov. Eric Holcomb said the state is eagerly anticipating further deliveries of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, and the potential approval of other vaccine variants. So far, five hospitals in Indiana had received the vaccine on Wednesday. Fifty-four additional sites in Indiana, including Hancock Regional Hospital, are set to receive doses this week to distribute to front-line health care workers. The hospital will receive 975 doses, to be administered to workers in Hancock and Shelby counties.
Hoosier medical and nursing students are being mobilized through the state’s reserve health care workforce program to prepare to administer the vaccine on a larger scale.
Holcomb said the state is awaiting further expert advice on how to prioritize who will receive vaccine doses when they are more widely available, and hopes to have more guidance on the matter in the next few weeks. The next groups in line are expected to be non-medical essential workers and people with health conditions that would put them at high risk of severe illness from COVID-19.
Several factors will be evaluated in deciding how to prioritize early distribution, Holcomb said, including risk of exposure to the virus, risk of a severe case, and risk of passing it on to other people, especially those in vulnerable groups.
Even with the vaccine available for the first time, there are worrying signs for Indiana’s COVID-19 situation. ICU bed availability in the state is down this week, with 11.2% of beds available compared with 22.1% last week. A larger proportion — 48.9% — are being occupied by non-COVID patients.
Health commissioner Dr. Kristina Box said she could not determine the cause of the decreased ICU bed availability, as hospitals are not required to report to the state information about their non-COVID patients.
In District 5, where Hancock County is located, 22% percent of ICU beds are currently available. COVID-19 patients occupy 41.4% of beds, and non-COVID patients 36.6%.
Box also announced that the state is introducing an online option for its contact tracing survey. When residents are identified as close contacts of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, they will receive a text message from the state health department with a link to the online form as well as the option to call and complete the survey over the phone. Officials hope the online option will help draw a greater response to contact tracing attempts.
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Hancock County
648 new tests administered
91 new cases (Dec. 15)
13% seven-day (Dec. 3-9) positivity rate all tests, 7.3% cumulative rate
No new deaths
55,877 total tests administered
30,717 total individuals tested
4,254 total cases
23% seven-day (Dec. 3-9) positivity rate unique individuals, 13.8% cumulative rate
75 total deaths
Indiana
50,188 new tests administered (August 15-Dec. 15), 15,471 new individuals tested
6,283 new cases (Nov. 11-Dec. 15)
12.5% seven-day (Dec. 3-9) positivity rate all tests, 7.9% cumulative rate
125 new deaths (Nov. 18-Dec. 15)
5,050,163 total tests administered
2,461,562 total individuals tested
440,850 total positive cases
24.5% seven-day (Dec. 3-6) positivity rate unique individuals, 17.9% cumulative rate
6,781 total deaths
320 probable deaths
48.9% ICU beds in use – non-COVID
39.9% ICU beds in use – COVID
11.2% ICU beds available
16.6% ventilators in use – non-COVID
13.6% ventilators in use – COVID
69.8% ventilators available
Hospital census: 3,192 total COVID-19 patients (2,758 confirmed, 434 under investigation)
Source: Indiana State Department of Health
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