27 new cases; Dubois County Covid-19 designation upgraded to Red

Thursday, the Indiana State Department of Health recorded 27 new Covid-19 cases in Dubois County.

This brings the number of cases up to 6,608 since the pandemic began with 118 residents’ death attributed to the disease.

On Wednesday, the Indiana State Department of Health also upgraded Dubois County’s Covid-19 designation to Red.

This means that Covid-19 infections are averaging more than 200 cases per 100,000 projected population. Dubois County averaged 259 new cases per 100,000 over seven days. The state also considers the percentage of positive tests over seven days. A red designation means the test results are greater than 15 percent positive. Dubois County is averaging 15.14 percent positive on Covid-19 tests.

The color designations are based on the average of scores assigned for the number of weekly cases per 100,000 people and its seven-day positivity rate. The overall county score will help guide the Indiana Department of Health, local partners, and Hoosiers as they make the best decisions possible to protect their communities and limit the spread of COVID-19.

“The designations give the community an idea of how much the virus is spreading,” said Shawn Werne, Administrative Director of the Dubois County Health Department. “It is pretty much going up in every single county.”

The Delta variant of the coronavirus is more contagious than the previous strains and according to Werne, this is made apparent in how quickly the positive cases are increasing.

The state has not changed its stance on mitigation mandates. This falls on the individual to take the appropriate action to prevent the spread. “It is really about personal responsibility,” Werne said adding that many businesses and employers were enacting their own mask requirements to slow the spread.

The Dubois County Health Department can make recommendations for further mandates in the community but according to Werne, they would likely rely on the Dubois County Commissioners to make those mandates and enforce them regarding any mitigation efforts.

With the designation, the City of Jasper, City of Huntingburg, Town of Ferdinand, Huntingburg Public Library and Jasper Public and Contractual (Ferdinand, Dubois, and Birdseye branches) Libraries are enacting mask mandates in their respective buildings. Anyone entering any of the buildings operated by these entities is required to wear a mask.