Health officials hope for recent drop in COVID cases despite pandemic peak in January

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) – It’s the last day of January, a month that has seen more COVID-19 cases than most.

“Ten days ago, the number of cases per 100,000 per week was almost 1,300 – the highest we have seen at any time during the pandemic,” says Dr. Mark Fox, county health officer for St. Joseph.

But as the month draws to a close, Dr. Fox says health officials are starting to see encouraging signs.

“Over the past 10 days, the infection rate has dropped by around 40%. So quite a dramatic improvement in the number of infections that we see on a regular basis,” Fox says.

Fox explains that a drop in daily cases could mean omicron could be headed for the door soon.

“If you look at the experience in South Africa for example, they’ve seen a very large increase in omicron cases and a very large drop from their previous baseline,” Fox says.

And while it’s too early to tell what trajectory Michiana is on, Fox says he hopes it’s headed in the right direction.

“During the next week, we will have a better idea if the improvement in the number of hospitals really holds up in this drop in cases. We are still not out of the woods, 600 to 700 cases per 100,000 per week, that’s still a lot of COVID floating around in our community. It certainly hasn’t gone away, but it seems to have gone down from where it was before,” Fox says.

For more information on the impact of COVID-19 on your community, you can head to coronavirus.in.gov.

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