Monroe County’s cases of COVID-19 are leveling off, but the seven-day positivity rate remains in the upper teens.
The county on Wednesday reported 121 new cases from May 22-28, according to the state and CDC dashboards. The county averaged 30 cases a day last week, down four from the previous week.
The county has reported 29,425 cases and 276 deaths since the pandemic began more than two years ago.
The county’s positivity rate is just over 17%. It had dropped to under 3% in early April but has steadily climbed since. In May, it never dipped below 14%.
The total number of new cases and positivity rates do not take into account the large number of unreported at-home tests being administered. An IU expert estimated last month that nearly 75% of COVID testing is done at home. The county administered just 225 tests over the past week.
The state reported nearly 12-hundred new infections and two new deaths Wednesday. That brings the state totals to 1,735,581 positive cases and 22,757 deaths since the pandemic began. The state’s seven-day positivity rate is around 16%.
The county and much of the state remains in the low level on the C-D-C’s three-tiered rating scale for COVID. However, south-central Indiana counties of Owen, Lawrence, Jackson and Bartholmew are in the medium level, which means if you are at high risk, you should ask your health care provider if you need to wear a mask in public.
