As Indiana continues to see an increase in coronavirus cases, some startling numbers from around the state are showing where cases are increasingly most rapidly.
According to data provided by the Indiana State Department of Health, Friday and Saturday have seen the fifth and third-largest single day increases in cases since the pandemic began. On Friday, health officials reported 739 new cases, the largest single-day increase since May 5. That number was topped on Saturday, as health officials reported 793 new cases of the virus, the third-highest total the state has seen during the pandemic.
The main driving force behind the new cases appears to be Lake County, which reported its highest single-day increase in cases on Saturday, with 161 new confirmed cases in that county alone.
Cases among Indiana residents under the age of 40 have been increasing dramatically as of late, and Lake County is following that pattern. According to statistics, those residents between the ages of 20 and 39 in Lake County have accounted for a combined 31 percent of COVID-19 cases, with those between 20 and 29 accounting for 17.4 percent of cases, the highest total for any demographic in the county.
Lake County is not the only place in Indiana seeing an uptick in cases. In Vanderburgh County, located along the Ohio River on the southern edge of the state, has reported 140 cases of coronavirus in the last three days after reporting 587 over the span of nearly four months.
Marion County, one of the biggest drivers of coronavirus cases early in the pandemic in Indiana, hadn’t reported more than 100 coronavirus cases in a single day since May 29. That all changed on Friday, and with 101 more cases on Saturday, the county has now marked two consecutive days of eclipsing 100 COVID-19 cases.
All of this has led to an increase in the state’s rolling positivity rate, according to ISDH data. On June 18, that rolling rate was at approximately 4.1 percent, but as of July 10, the number is now at 7.8 percent.
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With numbers on the rise in some parts of the state, it is unclear whether officials will move Indiana forward into Phase Five of the state’s reopening plan, or if there will be another delay in that process. A decision on that move will likely be made by the end of next week.
