All 92 Indiana counties reach top COVID-19 spread risk level

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — All 92 of Indiana's counties have reached the highest-risk level for COVID-19 spread for the first time since state health officials began releasing a statewide risk map during the pandemic.

Indiana’s color-coded coronavirus risk map on the Indiana Department of Health's dashboard showed that as of Wednesday the entire state was in the highest-risk red category, which indicates very high community spread of COVID-19.

That was up from 81 counties rated in the red category last week. Indiana previously had seen a peak of 73 of its 92 counties in the red category in January 2021. The state’s county-level risk level is updated each Wednesday.

The entire state entered the highest-risk category as the spread of the highly-contagious omicron variant continues, with that variant accounting for 74.3% of Indiana’s coronavirus cases recorded in January.

Indiana's hospitals had 3,492 people hospitalized as of Tuesday because of COVID-19. That's the state's second-highest total of COVID-19 hospitalizations, following a peak of 3,519 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 as of Jan. 13.

The health department reported another 118 deaths in Indiana from COVID-19 on Wednesday, reflecting deaths that occurred between mid-November and Tuesday. Those deaths raised Indiana's pandemic death toll to 20,500, including confirmed and presumed COVID-19 cases.

Indiana has averaged more than 50 such deaths a day since mid-December.