After recording at least one COVID-19 death every day from nearly two weeks, Monroe County did not report any virus-related deaths over the weekend.
COVID-19 deaths in the county have increased by more than 57% since the month began. Monroe County had previously documented only 52 deaths from April through November but following a post-Thanksgiving spike in cases and positivity rates, COVID-19 deaths in the county have increased by 30 to a total of 82 deaths.
This calm weekend may indicate an ease in viral activity across the county or could just be the product of habitually low numbers reported on Mondays. Both the state and county tend to document lower COVID-19 numbers after the weekend, but Monroe County has seen a slight decrease in both cases and positivity rates over the last couple weeks.
The Indiana State Department of Health reported Monday 52 new cases in the county, increasing its total to 7,514 cases since March. A month ago on Nov. 20, the ISDH reported 149 cases in Monroe County, but a gradual decrease in the county’s seven-day positivity rate from 11.1% at the beginning of the month to 6% today has yielded fewer cases.
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The county continues to administer between 1,600 and 1,900 test a day and has completed more than 214,000 tests on nearly 70,000 individuals.
Across the state, the ISDH reported 3,978 cases and 31 deaths, totaling 468,219 and 7,101, respectively, since the pandemic began. In just 11 days, Indiana confirmed more than 1,000 deaths, which pushed the state past the 7,000-death mark over the weekend.
The state has seen a more gradual decrease in its positivity rate. After administering nearly 5.3 million tests, Indiana currently has a seven-day positivity rate of 12.2%. COVID-19 hospitalizations have also fallen to 2,967 after beginning the month with more than 3,400. A quarter of the state’s ICU beds remain available, while COVID-19 patients occupy another 30.8% of them.
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