Whole state remains red; Putnam metrics climb higher

It’s not clear if the Omicron variant of COVID-19 has reached its peak in Putnam County.

However, the week ending Monday, Jan. 24 was the highest in terms of number of new COVID-19 cases locally since the pandemic began in March 2020.

In total, there were 574 new positive cases in Putnam County over the seven-day period, including 180 cases on Jan. 20 and 113 on Jan. 21, easily the two highest single-day counts of the pandemic.

It adds up to Putnam County not only being in the red, the highest advisory level in the Indiana State Department of Health’s weekly rankings, but well beyond the minimum metrics to be in the red.

ISDH reports a 29.57 percent positivity rate during the week, nearly double the 15-percent threshold for a red rating as well as up slightly from the 29.09 percent rating of the previous week.

Meanwhile, the cases per 100,000 residents was an astounding 1,586 — or nearly eight times the red threshold of 200. Last week’s figure was 1,115 new cases per 100,000 residents.

Data and trends suggest Putnam County is likely being several weeks away from slipping back below the red advisory level despite the fact that Omicron infections drop precipitously following peak. The metrics are both well beyond the threshold, and a county must test below the minimum numbers for two consecutive weeks before its advisory level is dropped.

That means masks mandates are likely to remain in place for a few weeks at both Greencastle Community Schools and inside Putnam County government offices, as both have tied their mandates to the ISDH rating.

In relatively good news locally, the international trend of Omicron being relatively less deadly than previous waves seems to be holding true here as well. While nine Putnam County residents have died from COVID-19 since Jan. 1, those numbers have not increased in line with the high infection rate recently.

The number of residents who have died from COVID-19 now sits at 101.

Data from ISDH also shows that beds remain available in District 7 (Vermillion, Parke, Putnam, Vigo, Clay, Owen, Sullivan and Greene counties), with 34.5 percent of ICU beds open and 70.9 percent of ventilators.

However, in District 5, which includes Hendricks and Marion counties where many locals go for specialized care, just 8.4 percent of ICU beds remain available, while 57.7 percent of ventilators are available.