The Tuesday update from the Fishers Health Department does not contain much good news.  For the 6th straight week, Fishers has seen an increase in the number of positive COVID cases.

For several weeks, Fishers overall community risk level was a Level 1, Green, the lowest level.  Last week, Fishers had a community risk level of 2, one step higher.  The latest numbers put the metric at a Level 3, another increase in city’s risk level, on a scale of 1-5.

The Hamilton County positivity rate is at 12.6%.  The Fishers case incidence rate, a 14-day average of cases per 100,000 population, stands at 26.22.  Both of those measures stand at Level 5, Red, the highest risk level.

The 7-day positivity rate at the Fishers testing site, which has been very busy lately, is at 6, or a yellow risk level.

“We are seeing hospital capacity decreasing a bit this week compared to last week, in terms of ICU (Intensive Care Unit) bed availability in our area and hospitalizations continue to increase,” says Josh Robinson, epidemiologist for the Fishers Health Department.

There is good news on a couple of fronts.  Testing continues to be available in Fishers with a turnaround time of a day-and-a-half for receiving test results.

But overall, numbers  are looking like what we saw earlier this year.

“Those case numbers that we are seeing are starting to look a lot closer to the early winter of 2021 and there is no slowing or sign of slowing in sight,” Robinson said.  “The rate of increase continues to go upward and this is having an impact across our community and all across the state of Indiana and the U.S.”

The Delta variant of COVID is much more transmissible, where one positive individual can infect 8-9 others.

According to Robinson, the best protection against serious consequences from COVID is to get a vaccination.  If you have questions or want to setup a vaccine appointment, call 317-595-3211,

Below is the link to Josh Robinson’s video, posted during the late afternoon of August 17: