There is some good news to report on the local COVID front, and we will take any good news at this point in the pandemic.
The Fishers Health Department reports a second straight week of a declining percent positivity rate. As of Tuesday, January 19, the rate was reported at 12.93% at the Fishers testing site, with a case incidence rate of 89.82. Although both show declines, the city remain in the red, or highest, transmission risk category.
Therefore, look for no loosening of restrictions in Fishers.
Testing availability in Fishers is strong at this time, with a 2.7 day wait for results.
The Intensive Care Unit availability in hospitals in our area has improved slightly.
The Health Department says the COVID transmission rate has been reduced, but not enough to roll back precautions and mitigation strategies at this time.
Fishers is set to open its large COVID vaccination site on 116th Street near Brooks School Road Monday morning, at the old Marsh Supermarket site. The city says as many as 1,600 vaccinations can be handled in one day at that location.
So, Fishers remains in the red, or highest, category for COVID transmission, but numbers are beginning to slowly move downward, providing what the Health Department describes as a light at the end of the tunnel.
A move in the right direction, but it’s pretty much shelter in place except for necessary shopping (e.g. groceries) until we spend a full week in orange or below.
There are still too many people in stores taking off their masks, wearing gaiters and other irrelevant types, or wearing them under their noses. This is more of a problem in Noblesville in my experience, though. But it’s a sign that it’s nowhere near over, and may continue for quite some time, even with vaccinations. How do they just not get it?