Indiana reduces frequency of COVID-19 data updates | Health Care | nwitimes.com – The Times of Northwest Indiana - Highlight News Today

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Saturday, April 2, 2022

Indiana reduces frequency of COVID-19 data updates | Health Care | nwitimes.com – The Times of Northwest Indiana

The Indiana Department of Health is reducing the frequency of its COVID-19 data updates as the coronavirus pandemic increasingly fades into the rearview mirror.

Instead of continuing to post new COVID-19 case counts, hospitalizations and deaths to Indiana’s COVID-19 dashboard each weekday, the state health agency now is updating the online records only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

It also halted publication of a daily testing positivity rate in favor of a seven-day case average paired with an indication of whether the number is trending up or down.

In addition, the state’s color-coded county maps showing COVID-19 spread have been replaced by similar maps of community transmission issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dr. Lindsay Weaver, chief medical officer at the Indiana Department of Health, said the changes reflect a national shift toward using hospitalization data as the leading indicator of the impact COVID-19 has on a community.

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She said the dashboard update is the first step toward applying to COVID-19 general surveillance models, such as those used to measure current levels of influenza.

“The increased use of at-home tests and other antigen tests that are never reported to the state has diluted the value of posting a daily positivity rate,” Weaver said.

“A better measurement is the impact that COVID-19 is having on our healthcare systems, and our dashboard revisions will make it much easier to see how hospitals are being impacted.”

Weaver said the dashboard changes retain the ability to sort metrics by demographics, including age, race and ethnicity, and provide a clearer breakdown of COVID-19 hospitalizations as part of the total hospital census.

According to the data dashboard, Lake County last week averaged 15 new COVID-19 cases each day, Porter County tallied an average of six new daily cases, and LaPorte County had three.

Just 22 people are hospitalized in Northwest Indiana because of COVID-19 and 306 statewide — an incredible 91.3% drop from the state’s all-time COVID-19 hospitalization peak of 3,506 set Jan. 19, records show.

But COVID-19 remains a fatal disease, particularly for the unvaccinated. Data show a total of 20 Lake County residents died because of COVID-19 in March, the coronavirus killed five last month in Porter County and six people in LaPorte County.

The Indiana Department of Health recommended Wednesday that individuals age 12 and older with weakened immune systems, and all adults age 50 and older who received their first Pfizer or Moderna booster dose at least four months ago, get a second booster shot to increase their protection against COVID-19.

Adults who received a primary vaccine and booster dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at least four months ago also may receive a second booster dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, according to the CDC. A third J&J shot is not recommended.

The state health agency said booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been shown to increase protection from hospitalization and death due to COVID-19 and the omicron variant of the virus.

The free COVID-19 vaccine is available at more than 1,400 retail pharmacies, health clinics and hospitals across the state — often without an appointment. A full list of vaccine sites is online at ourshot.in.gov.

According to the Indiana Department of Health, unvaccinated individuals have accounted for 90.8% of Indiana’s nearly 1.7 million total COVID-19 infections, 99.89% of COVID-19 hospitalizations and 99.93% of the state’s more than 23,000 COVID-19 deaths since the first coronavirus case was confirmed in the state on March 6, 2020.

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