Bartholomew County remains yellow on state COVID-19 map

With the state about ready to pass the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic starting here, Bartholomew County remains in the yellow or moderate advisory level on the Indiana State Department of Health color-coded map of COVID-19 spread.

According to Thursday’s figures released by the state, Bartholomew County has a spread of 115 new cases per 100,000 people and a seven-day positivity rate of 7.17 percent. That would have to drop to less than 10 new cases per 100,000 residents and below a 5 percent positivity rating for the county to move back to the blue.

In our area, Brown, Johnson, Decatur and Jackson counties are now in the blue, while Shelby and Jennings counties continue in the yellow.

Statewide, Indiana saw 962 new cases of the disease and 32 new deaths reported Thursday. Shelby, Johnson and Brown counties each had a single new death reported in our area.

Health officials confirmed Indiana’s first case on March 6th of last year. Since then, 664,446 people in the state have tested positive for the virus and more than 12,231 people have died from it.

The vast majority of people who tested positive, nearly 98-percent of them, have recovered.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated