Health officials are “cautiously optimistic” that St. Joseph County, Ind., has reached its peak in the coronavirus pandemic’s Omicron wave, but are still urging the community to be vigilant as hospitals recover from yet another challenging surge.
The number of daily COVID-19 cases appears to be declining across the county.
Deputy Health Officer Dr. Mark Fox said while positive cases had plateaued around 1,100 to 1,200 cases per 100,000 residents over seven days in early January, that number has fallen now by about 25 percent.
Is Omicron done yet? COVID-19 cases are dropping fast across Indiana.
Just in the last week, cases dropped from an average of more than 1,200 cases over seven days on Monday and Tuesday to 921.5 cases on Thursday.
Positivity rates, however, have remained fairly steady over the last two weeks, hovering at just above 25 percent over seven days.
Fox said this could be because many of the tests reported to the state, given through labs or other diagnostic settings, are being sought by people who are sicker and more likely to return a positive test.
Click here to see the full report from Carley Lanich at the South Bend Tribune.