After re-entering the orange advisory level on the state’s COVID-19 dashboard Wednesday, Monroe County confirmed 58 new COVID-19 cases Thursday.
Cases have gradually been increasing since October, when the largest number of cases confirmed was 36.
The seven-day positivity rate is up to 9.2 percent, slightly lower than 9.3 percent Wednesday Last week on Tuesday the rate was 6.5 percent.
In District 8, which includes Monroe, Brown, and Bartholomew counties, hospitalizations jumped to 137 Wednesday and remain there Thursday. Hospitalizations haven’t been that high since Sept. 10.
Monroe County’s weekly cases per 100,000 are up to 279. Two weeks ago, the rate was 186 per 100,000.
Statewide, 5,513 cases were confirmed Thursday, up from more than 5,300 new cases Wednesday. The state has topped 1,145,000 since the pandemic began.
The Indiana Department of Health confirmed 41 COVID-19 deaths Thursday, and the total since the pandemic began is 17,351. Hospitalizations are at 2,753, down slightly from 2,755 Wednesday. Before Wednesday, hospitalizations hadn’t topped 2,700 since January. The state’s positivity rate is 14.5 percent.
Long Term Care
The state recorded 564 new long-term care resident COVID-19 cases and 412 new staff COVID-19 cases Wednesday, after not reporting numbers last week.
This week’s new resident cases are more than double those confirmed Nov. 17. And this week’s new staff cases are nearly three times more than the 146 counted Nov. 17.
Fifty-five deaths were confirmed among long term care residents this week. The week before, 18 resident deaths were confirmed. No COVID-19 deaths were recorded this week among long term care facility staff and that total is 25. But last week marked the first confirmed death among staff in two months.
