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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowStatistics released by the Indiana State Department of Health on Monday showed an uptick in statewide hospitalizations from COVID-19 the day after Christmas.
In its first pandemic update since Dec. 23, the department reported 2,982 hospitalizations on Sunday, up from 2,920 on Christmas Day. Daily hospitalizations have ranged from 2,911 to 3,058 over the past two weeks.
COVID patients occupy 38.2% of Indiana’s intensive care unit beds. Taking into account the 47.2% of ICU beds in use for other reasons, the percentage of available ICU beds statewide is 14.6%.
The latest report from the health department indicates that the latest COVID-19 variant has yet to surge in the state—at least officially.
The department reported 1,862 new cases of COVID-19, down from more than 4,800 cases in its Dec. 23 report. The new cases were reported to the state from Friday through Sunday.
The cumulative number of cases, however, rose from 1,200,926 in the previous report to 1,221,297—an increase of 20,371.
The state said ongoing sampling shows that 99.4% of COVID cases in Indiana in December are from the delta variant, compared with just 0.1% from the omicron variant. Those percentages, though, indicate sampling done only through Dec. 13.
The state reported its first official case of the omicron variant on Dec. 19, from a specimen collected Dec. 9.
Monday’s report showed no new deaths from COVID, but included reports only from Dec. 26. The total death toll rose to 18,110, an increase of 53 from the previous update.
More than 3.54 million Hoosiers had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of Monday at 5 a.m. More than 1.3 million Hoosiers have gotten vaccine boosters.
The department said 59.2% of Indiana residents 12 and older are fully vaccinated.
COVID-19 cases
*New COVID-19 cases: 1,862
Total cumulative cases: 1,221,297
COVID-19 deaths
New deaths: 0
Total cumulative deaths: 18,110
COVID-19 testing
New tested individuals: 2,470
Total cumulative tested individuals: 4,723,216
Cumulative positivity rate unique individuals: 25.7%
Cumulative positivity rate all tests: 9%
Seven-day positivity rate unique individuals: 23.9%**
Seven-day positivity rate all tests: 13%**
** The health department reports the 7-day positivity rates with a six-day lag to allow time for more comprehensive results.
County numbers
Marion County cumulative cases: 158,134 (increase of 396)
Marion County new deaths: 0
Marion County cumulative deaths: 2,338
Marion County 7-day positivity rate unique individuals: 21.6%
Marion County 7-day positivity rate all tests: 13.9%
Hamilton County cumulative cases: 56,344
Hendricks County cumulative cases: 28,629
Johnson County cumulative cases: 30,101
Madison County cumulative cases: 23,352
Boone County cumulative cases: 10,719
Hancock County cumulative cases: 14,560
Morgan County cumulative cases: 11,407
Shelby County cumulative cases: 9,305
COVID-19 vaccinations
Statewide totals (Dec. 14, 2020–Dec. 27, 2021)
First dose administered: 3,607,214 (holiday weekend increase of 15,519)
Fully vaccinated: 3,542,454 (holiday weekend increase of 9,877)
Booster doses: 1,307,617 (holiday weekend increase of 52,811)
Indiana intensive care unit usage
ICU beds in use by COVID-19 patients: 38.2%
Available ICU beds: 14.6%
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Is it possible, just possible, that omicron hasn’t “surged!” because the symptoms are so mild people don’t notice and don’t get tested?
Another reason there isn’t a “surge” is because there is a shortage of OTC tests. And, the symptoms are manageable for many people, so they do not need to go to a medical facility for a PCR test.