Throughout the summer, new confirmed COVID-19 cases in Brown County were averaging around one per day.
As of Nov. 9, in the past 30 days, Brown County had gained 84 new cases. That’s an average of about 2.8 new cases per day.
Two of the new cases within the past two weeks have been in county government employees, said Corey Frost, public health emergency preparedness coordinator, on Nov. 5.
Those people work in the Law Enforcement Center and in the County Office Building.
The county provided testing to all employees and identified close contacts affected by those cases, he said, and cleaning crews were deployed to disinfect any affected areas.
Both facilities continue to operate under the protocols that have been in place for the past several months, he said.
“We continue to reinforce the necessity to screen employees/visitors and to maintain social distancing while conducting government business,” Frost said in an email.
Brown County’s total confirmed COVID-19 cases were up to 179 as of Nov. 6. The same day, a new record was set, at 4,714 new cases reported in one day statewide.
By Nov. 10, the county’s confirmed COVID-19 cases had risen by 30 more, to 209.
Brown County Schools reported its second case at the high school within two weeks on Nov. 4; then, two more cases at that school were reported on Nov. 9, plus one at the junior high.
Earlier in October, two junior high school teachers tested positive, prompting that school to close for cleaning two different days and all junior high students to go on virtual learning.
The high school was not closed for the student cases on the advice of the Brown County Health Department, Superintendent Laura Hammack told parents. The junior high was not closed after the Nov. 9 report of a new case either. This was because those students hadn’t been in school for five to seven days. Instead, close contacts of those students were released from school for quarantine and the schools were closed overnight for cleaning.
So far, all schools remain on “green” status, as the symptom rate in any building hasn’t reached the threshold of moving to “yellow” status where students would be on a hybrid in-school/online plan.
“As always, please be vigilant in monitoring your child for symptoms of COVID-19 before they attend school,” Hammack told parents.
Symptoms on the schools’ list include temperature of 100.4 or higher; sore throat; new, uncontrolled cough that causes difficulty breathing, or for students with chronic allergic/asthmatic cough, a change in their cough from baseline; diarrhea, vomiting or abdominal pain; new onset of severe headache, especially with a fever; loss of taste or smell; or recent exposure to someone who is COVID-19 positive.
“If your child is symptomatic, please keep your child at home and call the school to receive further instructions,” the schools’ parent notice said.
Brown County’s essential businesses are being affected, as well.
On Nov. 9, Brown County IGA announced on Facebook that the store would be closed that day for deep cleaning and was to reopen this morning, Nov. 10. The store shared in a follow-up post that an employee did test positive for COVID-19 and that employees had to be quarantined, leaving them short-handed, so hours of operation would be shortened when the store reopened on Nov. 10.
The Brown County Music Center is still offering free, drive-up COVID-19 testing most days of the week for adults and children as young as 2.
November testing hours are Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Wednesdays and Fridays, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and the second and third Saturdays of the month from 9 a.m. to noon. The testing center is closed on Sundays, Mondays and holidays.
An appointment is not needed, but registration is preferred at scheduling.coronavirus.in.gov. The phone number is 812-320-1124.
This story will be updated for the 11/18 paper. To add questions to our list to ask local health authorities, email us at [email protected].
