DUBOIS COUNTY: 445 New COVID Cases in Just One Week, Local Officials Talk Christmas

BY: DAVID SHEPHERD, NEWS DIRECTOR

JASPER -- A total of 445 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Dubois County in just the last seven days.

92 new cases were reported in the county over the weekend alone.  Officials reported 63 new cases on Saturday and 29 on Sunday.

We’re currently under a CODE ORANGE designation with a seven-day positivity rate of 12%.

"We are in ORANGE, so the maximum gathering you can have is 50 people for any type of event," Shawn Werner, head of the Dubois County Health Department, tells WITZ Radio News.  "The holidays really can't look the way they have in the past.  You need to keep your gatherings to your social bubble and try to limit contact with those around you."

And what about those office Christmas parties or large family gatherings?  Werner says, "We're really asking people who put those events on to look at if it's absolutely needs to be done or can it be postponed for a little while until we can get a vaccine available to get some immunity in the public." 

ELSEWHERE ACROSS THE AREA:

45 new cases of COVID-19 were reported Sunday in Lawrence County.

In Daviess County, officials reported 23 new cases; 19 in Orange County; 18 in Spencer County, 15 in both Pike and Crawford counties; 13 new cases were reported in Perry County and six in Martin.

Two new deaths were reported in the area Sunday.  One in Daviess; the other in Spencer.

DISTRICT 10 HOSPITALS:

13.6% of our district's ICU beds are currently available.  41.6% of the ICU beds that are in use are occupied by local COVID-19 patients.

75% of District 10’s ventilators are currently available.

Locally, District 10 includes Dubois, Daviess, Martin, Pike, Perry, and Spencer Counties.