Area hospitalizations due to COVID-19 are at their lowest since the beginning of the pandemic.
As of March 23, there were 23 patients diagnosed with COVID in northeast Indiana hospitals, according to the Indiana Department of Health COVID-19 dashboard.
Available ICU capacity is at 18 percent, but only one percent of those beds are occupied with COVID patients.
The area’s 7-day positivity rate is down to 1.8 percent, but that only reflects information from tests reported to health departments.
During the height of the first COVID surge in early December 2020, prior to the wide availability of vaccines, there were 448 northeast Indiana residents hospitalized with the virus.
And then, in late 2021 as the delta variant roared through the U.S., hospitalizations in the area shot up again–hitting a near-record high of 396 on Dec. 15.
Hospitalizations have been on a steady march downward since early February as the omicron variant took hold.
Statewide, the highest number of COVID hospitalizations was earlier this year, with 3,506 on Jan.19. That number is now down to 354.
