County falls into red zone for COVID-19 cases

Jackson County has fallen into the Indiana State Department of Health’s red level, one of the county’s top health officials said Tuesday afternoon.

Dr Christopher Bunce, public health official for the Jackson County Department of Health, made the announcement during the Schneck Medical Center’s weekly COVID-19 update.

Bunce, an infectious disease specialist at Seymour Hospital, said there were about 17 other counties in Indiana in the red level for the infection. ISDH publishes the status of each county at noon every Wednesday.

“We are not alone, but we are among the worst counties,” Bunce said.

The county has been at orange level in recent weeks.

On what it means for a county to go from an orange level to a red level, Bunce said there is a mandatory reduction in crowd size from 50 to 25, and the state is more interested in the county. and meet more often with local health officials.

Jackson County had a 20.1% positivity rate for COVID-19 cases on Tuesday. For a county to be classified as red, the positivity rate must be greater than 15%.

The positivity rate is determined by a seven-day moving average with a six-day lag. It is calculated by dividing the total number of positive tests by the total number of tests administered. The reason for the delay is to give time to receive full results.

The current positivity rate for Jackson County is said to be Nov. 18-24.

The 20.1 percent positivity rate also means Jackson County has Indiana’s highest seven-day positivity rate for all tests.

Bunce said county health officials continue to focus on masking, social distancing and crowd reduction.

“These are the most important prevention principles,” he said. “They have proven themselves, and if we follow them, it will get better.”

Bunce also said he had heard of people buying take-out COVID-19 tests from local pharmacies and other retailers, but cautioned against relying on the results of those tests because they have a lower sensitivity.

He recommended getting tested for COVID-19 at a site that performs polymerase chain reaction or PCR testing, like the one at the former Indiana State Police Station at 721 E. Tipton St., Seymour.

A PCR test detects infection by finding the presence of genetic material containing coronavirus. This is usually done using a nasal swab where the sample is then sent to a lab to test for coronavirus.

Asked about antigen (or rapid) tests, Bunce said only symptomatic people should take them.

“A 15-minute test that should be done on symptomatic people,” he said. “It’s a sensitive test, but its sensitivity decreases dramatically in people who don’t have any symptoms.”

During the call, it was noted that rest rooms have become common places for the transmission of infections.

“Anything that you can do to get bigger spaces, to separate people, to have people take breaks on teams to keep people physically at bay, is really going to help,” Bunce said. “It’s when the masks come off, the food comes in and the conversation begins, that’s where we have these transmissions.”

Bunce said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that most COVID-19 transmissions were from asymptomatic people, and he personally understood and approved the statistic.

“It makes sense because sick people are more likely to stay away from others,” he said. “Asymptomatic people are more likely to be social. If everyone acts like they actually have COVID and takes the necessary precautions, then I think you’ll be fine.

Although a negative test may appear to be a break from quarantine, Bunce said this is not true because people can be asymptomatic but still be positive.

“It can be falsely reassuring, and in fact, it can be dangerous for other people to move around and think they’ve come out of quarantine with a test,” Bunce said.

He also said he does not recommend people who are in quarantine get tested.

“The purpose of quarantine is to stay away from other people during the time when you are at risk of developing an asymptomatic or symptomatic infection,” Bunce said. “Once this period is over, you are in the clear, but we are not testing our exit from quarantine.”

Regarding parents participating in sporting events with a limit of 25 people, Bunce said, “There is a contradiction that there is a limit of 25 people, but they allow participants, and I think it is. the problem. I have no problem with parents, but you still face a 25 person indoor / outdoor crowd restriction. “

Bunce said the public is primarily responsible for transmitting the infection at sporting events, which is why crowd sizes are reduced to a red level.

He also said he doesn’t see a problem with visits to nursing homes if they are done outdoors and if social distancing and masks are used, but no visit inside should have place at the moment.

Towards the end of the update, Bunce thanked people across the community for their efforts in preventing infection.

“Thank you for everything you do in the community,” he said. “I ask you to be patient because all the steps you are taking right now are working, but there will be a big lag so it will look like they are not working, but if we stick to that it will pay off.” .

The state announced Tuesday that 2,478 Jackson County residents have tested positive for COVID-19, an increase of 58 from Monday’s report.

No new deaths were reported in Jackson County on Tuesday, meaning the death toll remains at 34.

A total of 25,161 tests have been administered in Jackson County since March 18, an increase of 245 from Monday’s report.

The latest results were at 11:59 p.m. on Monday. The ISDH Coronavirus Dashboard is updated daily at noon.

As of Tuesday, 5,518 more Hoosiers across the state were diagnosed with COVID-19 through testing at the ISDH, CDC and private labs.

This brings the total number of Hoosiers known to have had the novel coronavirus to 344,373 following corrections from the previous day’s total.

The total number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 in Indiana is 5,598, with 142 new deaths reported on Tuesday. This is the largest one-day report on COVID-19-related deaths in the state.

For the state, a total of 4,259,964 tests were administered, an increase of 38,055 from the total reported on Monday.