Bartholomew County is reporting its 60th death from COVID-19.

The most recent death came on Friday, according to details reported to the Indiana State Department of Health. The county has had 40 new positive test results, bringing the total to 1,898.

Under the state color-coded map, Bartholomew County remains yellow or showing moderate spread, while Johnson, Shelby, Decatur, Jennings and Jackson counties are all orange, showing high community spread. Brown County is coded as blue, showing minimal spread.

The Bartholomew County COVID-19 Community Task Force is reporting the per-capita positive testing rate is 45.5, or red. Anything above a 10 is considered substantial spread under the county metrics. The positive rate has not been below the red level since mid-October.  The task force is also reporting 21 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 in Bartholomew County.

Statewide, Indiana reported 4,213 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday. That brings the state’s total to 214,509 since the pandemic began. There have been 4,418 COVID-19 deaths in the Hoosier state since the pandemic started after 34 more were announced yesterday.

Bartholomew County will be taking over contact tracing duties for COVID-19 again.

The tracing work had previously been taken over by the state. Amanda Organist with the county health department, said that the state is unable to keep up with the COVID-19 contact tracing and has requested the work  fall to the counties again. She said that each positive case requires contacting the patient and going through about an 11-page questionnaire that attempts to identify details of their case including onset times and who the patient may have been in close contact with.

The contact tracer then has to follow up with those who had been in close contact. The goal is to identify and limit the possible spread of the disease. She said each case takes about 45 minutes per patient.

Bartholomew County Commissioners yesterday approved a six-month contract with a worker who would do the contract tracing for the county. The county expects to have the expenses for the work be reimbursed from CARES Act funding.

A Bartholomew County poll worker tested positive for COVID-19 following last week’s election, but does not appear to have met the definition of close contact with members of the public according to County Clerk Jay Phelps.

Phelps said that the infected poll worker was serving at Westside Community Church last Tuesday. After finding out, Phelps said he contacted the other workers at that voting center and the inspector in charge of the location. The other poll workers are quarantining for two weeks as a precaution. Phelps said he also discussed the situation with the Bartholomew County Health Department nursing division.

The infected worker wore a mask all day, sanitized their hands frequently and had, at most, 90 seconds of contact with each voter. Social distancing was also observed, Phelps said.

Because the poll worker did not have 15 minutes of close contact with the public, the exposure to the public would be considered minor, Phelps said.

The poll worker, who has been hospitalized, began showing symptoms on Friday and did not have any symptoms on Election Day. The worker is expected to make a full recovery and to be released later this week, Phelps said.

The name of the worker is not being released for confidentiality reasons, Phelps said.

A traffic stop Sunday afternoon on Jonathan Moore Pike led to the arrest of a Columbus man on drug-related charges including dealing in methamphetamine.

A deputy pulled over a vehicle being driven by 59-year-old Jon E. Gressel of Columbus at about 3:36 Sunday afternoon. Gressel had several outstanding warrants.

A search revealed he was carrying drugs and drug-related items.

In addition to warrants from Bartholomew, Jackson and Marion counties, Gressel is facing new charges of dealing methamphetamine and possessing meth, marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

Bartholomew County authorities caught a man accused of stealing a truck in Hamilton County.

A deputy noticed a truck speed into a neighborhood near 11th and California streets at about 4:14 p.m. Sunday afternoon. The truck was found empty soon afterwards near 8th and Sycamore streets. The vehicle had been reported stolen out of Hamilton County.

A tip later that evening led deputies to a local business where they found a suspect, 34-year-old Travis R. White of Elwood. The arrested him as he left the store on preliminary charges of possession of stolen property with a prior conviction and of methamphetamine, as well as outstanding warrants from another county on charges of burglary and vehicle theft.

Local hospitals are urging you to take safety precautions as COVID-19 cases rise in our area.

Columbus Regional Health and Schneck Medical Center in Seymour have issued a joint warning, urging the use of masks, social distancing and hand washing to stem the increase.

The two hospitals said they are joining forces asking you to do your part to prevent mass outbreaks so that medical providers can preserve vital resources, such as staff and inpatient capacity, in order to continue responding to the pandemic. They say that as temperatures continue to cool and people engage in less outdoor activities, limiting in-person social gatherings and wearing a mask around anyone not in your household is more important than ever.

The hospitals say that face coverings, when worn properly greatly reduce the amount of virus-containing droplets or particles people emit and absorb. Maintaining a distance of 6-feet or more from others when in public and frequent hand-washing prevent the spread of coronavirus, but also other illnesses and bacteria that commonly circulate.

The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department is joining more than 250 other Indiana law enforcement agencies cracking down for seat belt violations during the annual Click It or Ticket campaign.

The enforcement effort starts today and runs through Nov. 29th. It includes overtime patrols to look for those driving or riding in vehicles without seatbelts. Funding for the effort is provided by the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute.

Sheriff Matt Myers says buckling up saves lives. Unrestrained motorists accounted for more than half of the fatalities in vehicle crashes.

Indiana has a primary seat belt law, which allows officers to stop and to cite drivers and passengers for failing to wear a seat belt. Drivers can also be cited for each unbuckled passenger in the vehicle under the age of 16. Children under the age of eight must be properly restrained in a federally approved child or booster seat.

The Alliance for Substance Abuse Progress in Bartholomew County is raising awareness of the importance of the life-saving drug Narcan, also known as Naloxone, during Narcan November.

Narcan can temporarily counteract the effects of opioid overdoses, providing time to get those who have overdosed to the hospital for further treatment. Molecules of the drug attach to opioid receptors in the body and can quickly get a victim breathing again if their breathing has slowed or stopped because of an opioid overdose.

The alliance is providing Narcan for free at the ASAP Hub from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays. The Hub is located in the Doug Otto United Way Center at 1531 13th St. ASAP is also distributing yard signs with the slogan “Narcan Saves Lives.”

At 6 tomorrow night, ASAP will have an online discussion about the medication and how it works. You can find a link on the ASAP Hub Facebook Page. You can get more information online at ASAPNARCAN.org.

Other upcoming ASAP events related to Narcan use include:

• Narcan Virtual Training: Wednesday, November 18th – 7:00 PM – Teaching the signs of an Opioid Overdose and how to properly administer Narcan. Location: ASAP Hub Facebook Page.
• Narcan  Virtual Training: Saturday, November 21st – 10:00 AM – Teaching the signs of an Opioid Overdose and how to properly administer Narcan. Location: ASAP Hub Facebook Page.
• ASAP Discussions: Tuesday, November 24th – 6:00 PM: Roundtable discussion on the impact that Narcan has had on our community. Location: ASAP Hub Facebook Page.

11 local not-for-profit agencies are receiving $2,000 grants from Centra Credit Union. The credit union announced last week that the organizations were nominated by employees who were passionate about the work the organizations do in the community.

Company wide, Centra provided 27 grants of $52,000 to the communities the credit union serves.

Local agencies receiving the grants include Advocates for Children, Sans Souci, Columbus Fireman’s Cheer Fund, Love Chapel, Our Hospice of Southern Indiana, Lincoln Central Neighborhood Family Center, Bartholomew County Humane Society, Book Buddies of Bartholomew County, Foundation for Youth, Turning Point, and Bartholomew County School Supplies Assistance Program.

The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department has made an arrest in a child molestation case after 15 years, due to the persistence of a deputy.

According to the sheriff’s department, Juan Carlos Avitia was a suspect in a child molesting case from September of 2005 and a warrant was issued for his arrest in early 2006. However Avitia could not be located and information suggested he had fled to Mexico.

However, recently BCSD Uniform Division Commander Capt. Dave Steinkoenig, who investigated the case 14 years earlier as a road deputy, came across an mug shot taken during a border-crossing arrest in Texas. The man claimed his name was Carlos Esparza Avitia and denied he was the wanted man. But fingerprints confirmed his identity.

He was taken into custody on Oct. 31st in Bartholomew County on preliminary charges of child molestation and possession of methamphetamine, according to the department.