Area counties show serious spread of COVID-19

All area counties are in the orange, or serious spread category on the Indiana State Department of Health’s COVID-19 tracking map based on their weekly conditions.

Johnson and Shelby Counties remain under the red advisory level, limiting some activities there. Advisory level refers to the current guidelines the county must follow. A county must remain at a lower weekly score for two consecutive weeks to move down to a lower advisory level.

In yesterday’s state report, Bartholomew County had 26 new cases of the disease, Decatur 3 , Jennings 5, Jackson 10, Brown 1, Johnson 49 and Shelby County had 20 new cases. Jackson and Shelby counties each had one new death from the disease.

Statewide, there were 2,260 new cases reported and 40 new deaths reported, with some dating back as far as January 2nd. The 7-day positivity rate was 9.1 percent. Since the pandemic started last March there have been 617,176 cases and 9,470 deaths statewide.

Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb yesterday eased some of the state’s coronavirus restrictions for crowds. The changes are all based on a county’s coronavirus advisory level.