On Tuesday, May 11, the DHHR reported 390 active Covid-19 cases in Putnam County. The last time that active cases exceeded 390 was February 22 when 422 cases were recorded.

In early January, active case numbers started to decline after reaching a high of 749. The decline stopped on March 14 when a total of 268 cases were reported. There have been more than 300 active cases every day since April 4th.

The 10-19 year-old age group has been the largest contributor to the county’s high numbers. Between April 4 and May 10, 195 of Putnam’s 417 new cases (47%) were in this age group.

During the same period, only 6% of the Covid cases were in the age 70 and older group. Statewide, more than 80% of the 70 and older group are fully vaccinated. Covid vaccinations became available to children over 12 years of age last week.

The low rate of cases among the 70 and up crowd is evidence of the effectiveness of the vaccine.

As of May 10, 19,186 Putnam residents were fully vaccinated and 23,602 were partially vaccinated. On April 10, the numbers were 11,393 fully vaccinated and 20,417 partially.

New Covid case numbers are expected to dramatically drop when at least 50% of the county’s population is fully vaccinated. As of May 10, Putnam was 9,000 short of the 50% mark.

Covid vaccinations can be scheduled through the Putnam County Health Department. Families with children above 12 years of age can fill out forms on-line at https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx.