Rebecca Green

Only LaGrange, Kosciusko and Noble counties have fewer than 30 percent of their populations fully-vaccinated against COVID-19, four months after the state rolled out its vaccination program.

LaGrange County remains relatively hot for community spread as well, with a 7-day positivity rate of more than 14 percent, and a place in the state’s second-worst category on its advisory dashboard.

Three new COVID-19 deaths were reported in northeast Indiana on Tuesday, and the 7-day positivity rate was up from 5.4 percent at the end of last week to 5.6 percent.

Northeast Indiana’s 7-day positivity rate dropped a bit more on Friday, although hospitalizations due to COVID-19 are at their highest since early February.

Allen County’s total for those infected with the illness topped 40,000 with the addition of 83 new cases on Friday, according to the Allen County Department of Health.

The county’s 7-day positivity rate stands at 5 percent, deemed safe by the WHO for community spread. And 34 percent of Allen County is now fully vaccinated.

Seven area counties now have about 30 percent of their populations fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the Indiana Department of Health. 

There are now four northeast Indiana counties in the state’s safest zone for COVID-19 spread, but there are also four in the state’s second-worst zone.

Three men have been arrested in connection with the disappearance and killing of a 54-year-old Fort Wayne man.

On Tuesday, Mathew J. Cramer II, 21, and Jacob D. Carreon-Hamilton, 20, both appeared in Allen Superior Court on preliminary charges connected to the killing of 55-year-old Shane Nguyen.

Nguyen was the subject of a statewide Silver Alert on Friday.

According to court documents, Nguyen’s dismembered body was found in the back of his own van after a crash during a police chase early Sunday morning.

No new COVID-19 deaths were reported in northeast Indiana on Monday, and the area’s positivity rate dropped below 6 percent for the past 7 days.

There were 153 new cases of COVID-19 reported in the region on Friday, and one new death, according to the Indiana Department of Health and local health department data.

  Adams, Wells and Wabash counties are in the state’s “safest” category for community spread of COVID-19, while Steuben and Whitley counties are now in the state’s second-worst category.

Overall, throughout northeast Indiana, there were 122 cases of the illness reported on Wednesday. The 7-day positivity rate in the area stands at 6.9 percent.

The Allen County Department of Health reported an additional five deaths, reconciling the total to the number recorded by the Indiana Department of Health at 672.

Steuben, Whitley and Noble counties are a whisker away from ending up back in the “orange” on the state’s COVID-19 dashboard, according to recent data.