WABASH VALLEY, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — COVID-19 and the Delta variant are currently on a downward trend of positive cases in the Wabash Valley, but health departments are continuing their work in making sure their counties are as safe as possible.
August and September saw a spike in COVID-19 cases across the Wabash Valley. To combat so many cases, the Indiana State Department of Health rolled out mobile vaccination clinics offering testing and vaccinations.
According to Knox County health officer Dr. Alan Stewart, the county was in the red for two weeks while seeing increased hospitalizations and deaths.
Dr. Stewart added that slightly over 50 percent of Knox County is vaccinated at this time, with approximately 20 percent of the county having been infected with COVID-19 so far.
“With this we have seen an increase in vaccinations in our clinics but our first time vaccinations again is somewhat limited,” Dr. Stewart said.
Greene County also dealt with the spike in cases in which they say the Delta variant was very active.
“Compared to August and September our numbers are down,” Greene County public health nurse Carrie Ramey said. “It isn’t quite as busy testing but it’s still higher than we’d like to see. We’d like to see numbers get down to where they where in June and July were we were testing less than a 100 people in a month.”
Though masks aren’t 100 percent effective against spreading the virus, the role they’ve played can be seen in many school systems.
“About two weeks after school began, we had a dramatic spike in our schools in the cases and the quarantines in the schools in the schools,” Dr. Stewart explained. “Up to a third of the school was quarantined at one time.”
As the holidays approach and the Delta variant continues to circulate, moving indoors due to colder weather could provide another spike in cases.
“Whole new ball game when you start having to be inside all the time because you aren’t out in the open air able to have gatherings outside and not have a mask on,” Ramey said. “If you’re indoors right now whether you’re vaccinated or not, if you are indoors in a busy place, you need to have a mask on.”
Nurse Ramey said whether vaccinated or not, if a person has tested positive they should quarantine for at least 10 days.
