Wayne County close to surpassing 19,000 COVID-19 cases

Mike Emery, Richmond Palladium-Item
·3 min read

RICHMOND, Ind. — Wayne County nears another COVID-19 case milestone.

The county was just 18 cases from reaching 19,000 when the Indiana State Department of Health on Monday provided new statistics through Sunday. The update reported 18,982 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases in Wayne County since the pandemic's March 2020 beginning.

Wayne County crossed the 18,000-case plateau Feb. 1, which was 110 days prior to Sunday. In the 102 days prior to Feb. 1, the county added more than 6,000 cases, stretching from the 12,000 plateau past 18,000 cases.

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During February, the state changed its case-reporting protocol to now assign cases to the day individuals testing positive took their tests. That makes the more recent day-by-day case totals preliminary.

For example, the state's May 16 update included 30 cases from May 9 to15, but during the subsequent week, another 24 cases were assigned to the days comprising that time period. The 54 cases from May 9 to15 are 86.2% more than the previous week's 29 cases. The preliminary case total for May 16 to 22 is already 50.

It had been 12 weeks since the county recorded more than 54 cases in a single week, the 104 from Feb. 14 to 20.

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The updated totals also increased the May 10 case total to 11. That's the first double-figure case day recorded since there were 14 cases Feb. 21, a span of 77 days. Three more days since May 10 already have reached double-figure case totals, topped by 17 cases May 17.

Among surrounding counties, Henry County also already has more than 50 cases reported for the May 16-22 time period. Darke and Preble counties in Ohio topped 20 cases during that span, with Darke recording 25 and Preble 21.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to list Wayne County and the surrounding Indiana and Ohio counties at a low community level.

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The overall case and death totals for surrounding counties are:

  • Darke County: 12,469 positives and 239 deaths;

  • Fayette County: 6,766 positives and 139 deaths;

  • Henry County: 13,117 positives and 226 deaths;

  • Franklin County: 4,406 positives and 55 deaths;

  • Preble County: 9,515 positives and 202 deaths;

  • Randolph County: 5,925 positives and 145 deaths;

  • Union County: 2,033 positives and 20 deaths.

Wayne County has had 330 residents die from COVID-19 complications. The most-recent death was reported April 16.

Indiana has recorded 1,724,829 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases and 22,735 COVID-related deaths through Sunday. The Ohio Department of Health's weekly update reported 2,743,577 cases and 38,590 deaths last Thursday.

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Reid Health on Monday reported two COVID-19 patients. Neither was in the intensive care unit and neither has been vaccinated.

The CDC reports 33,056 Wayne County residents are fully vaccinated. That is about 50.2% of the county's population.

In the CDC's statistics, 16,163 Wayne County residents are considered up to date on their COVID-19 vaccinations with booster shots, including 1,841 who have received second boosters.

This article originally appeared on Richmond Palladium-Item: Wayne County close to surpassing 19,000 COVID-19 cases