Bartholomew County moves into red zone again for COVID-19

County health officials are asking you to take measures again to protect yourself and your family from COVID-19.

According to the COVID-19 Community Task Force, Bartholomew County has been moved into the red category for high transmission of the disease by the Centers for Disease Control.

The task force says that the CDC spread level is determined by looking at hospital beds being used, hospital admissions, and the total number of new COVID-19 cases in an area.

The task force is urging you to again use masks when indoors, to stay up-to-date on vaccinations and boosters, and to get tested if you are showing symptoms of COVID-19.

Kelsey DeClue, spokeswoman for Columbus Regional Health, explains

DeClue says that you should also start again to consider what events you attend.

According to the most recent figures from the task force, Bartholomew County had 30 new positive cases as of July 19th and 10 people hospitalized for the disease. The hospitalizations have ranged from a low of 8 on several days in July to a high of 13 on July 13th.

In surrounding counties, Shelby and Jackson counties are rated as high transmission areas by the CDC. Johnson, Decatur and Jennings County are showing medium transmission and Brown County is having low transmission of the disease.

You can get more information at  covid19communitytaskforce.org