Post-Christmas COVID-19 spike dropping down again in Floyd County

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

Floyd County saw a small spike in the number of COVID-19 cases in the weeks following Christmas.

The 7-day rolling positivity rate was in the 10% to 11% range in the couple of days before and after Dec. 25, according to the state COVID-19 website.

The positivity rate is the percentage of people who are tested for COVID-19 who get a positive result. The rolling 7-day average means each day looks at the average test result rates for the preceding 7 days.

The 7-day positivity rate climbed to 17.4% on Dec. 29, to 19.4% on Dec. 31 and then stayed in the 20th percentile from Jan. 1 through Jan. 8, when it started coming down again. It topped out at 25.1% on Jan. 6.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the incubation period for COVID-19 is between two and 14 days.

The 7-day average rate was 7.7% on Monday, although the rating often changes for the most recent days on the lists as more exact figures regarding testing and test results are submitted to the state.

There have been 668 Floyd County residents vaccinated with at least the first shot of COVID-19 vaccine as of Monday, but fewer than half of those were administered in the county, according to the state site.

The state website shows that 298 doses had been administered in Floyd County as of Monday. Four persons living in Floyd County were listed as having received both required doses.

There have been 29 new COVID-19 cases identified in Floyd County in the past seven days. At the peak of a spike in cases in much of November and early December there were more than 100 new cases per week and close to 200 new cases some weeks.

The  7-day COVID-19 positivity rate averages were in the mid-30% and 40% range for 30 days during that time period, peaking at 43% on Dec. 2.

As of Monday’s state report, there have been 1,383 cases of COVID-19 identified among Floyd County residents since testing in the county began in March. There have been 6,636 individuals tested, and 36 people have died as a result of COVID-19 or with COVID-19 as a contributing factor.