Mark Wilson, Christina Elias and Isaiah Seibert, Evansville Courier & Press
EVANSVILLE — Southwest Indiana reported six new COVID-19-related deaths, including two in Vanderburgh County, on Friday.
Vanderburgh reported 132 new confirmed cases Friday, according to the Indiana State Health Department's statewide dashboard of cases.
Spencer County reported two deaths and 21 new cases, Warrick one death and 36 cases and Posey one death and 12 cases.
The updated numbers bring Vanderburgh County's totals to 19,292 COVID-19 cases since the first known case emerged on March 19 and 248 deaths since the first occurred on April 6.
Statewide, Indiana reported 3,560 new cases and 49 new deaths. The number of Hoosiers who have died from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic is now 9,267, with another 375 counted as "probable" for the virus to have caused or contributed to an individual's death.
The seven-day testing positivity rate continued to drop in Indiana, dipping to 18.9% Friday and remaining below 30 percent in most Southwestern Indiana counties. Gibson County's seven-day rate remained the highest in the area but dropped to 36.3%.
In Southwestern Indiana, only Vanderburgh and Perry counties are not red on the state health department's advisory map, although Vanderburgh is still under a "red" level advisory.
The ISDH updates the map colors and incidence per 100,000 residents weekly. Vanderburgh decreased from 788 to 592 per 100,000 this week, Warrick from 880 to 688, Posey from 747 to 534, Gibson went from 805 to 555 and Spencer from 769 to 473. Perry County, which remained at orange level, saw a decrease 699 to 547.
Friday’s hospital bed numbers in ISDH's 12-county District 10, of which Vanderburgh and Warrick are the largest counties, show COVID-19 patients were occupying 22.4% of ICU beds, while 25.9% of ICU beds remain available.
Statewide, 27.5% of ICU beds were available, while COVID-19 patients occupy 22.9% of Indiana ICU beds.
The ISDH updates its online dashboard of COVID-19 data daily, including deaths, as it tracks the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
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COVID-19 vaccinations
The state recently created a COVID-19 Vaccination Dashboard that is updated daily. It reports that as of Friday 388,398 Hoosiers had received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine since vaccinations began in late 2020 and 91,940 Hoosiers are fully vaccinated.
Statewide, the age group to receive the largest share of the first dose of the vaccine is 80+ with 23.9%. The next largest group was those 70-79 years old with 16.4%, 50-59 with 13.4% and 40-49 with 12.7%. Of those receiving a first dose of the vaccine, 64.3% are female and 34.2% male. The remaining 1.5% are classified unknown.
In Vanderburgh County, as of Friday, 3,567 are reported as fully vaccinated with 17,880 having received the first dose of the two-stage vaccination. In Warrick, 5,894 have received their first dose and 1,768 are fully vaccinated.