Dr. Fox talks rising COVID numbers

SOUTH BEND, Ind.--- St. Joseph County Deputy Health Officer Dr. Mark Fox spoke with ABC57 about the rising COVID numbers in St. Joseph County. According to data from the state health department, St. Joseph County's positivity rate has risen to 4.9%.

"Our 7 day rolling average of cases continue to go up," said Fox. "When we look back over the last month, it’s up about 75%."

Fox says what's troubling about this latest surge is the fact that no single event has contributed to the rise in cases.

"What’s concerning is it has gotten better in late February and early March and now we’re seeing this shift that’s not associated with winter holidays, it’s not associated with the Super Bowl it pre-dated spring break so there also any specific kinds of year or circumstances that usually contribute to it," said Fox. 

Fox says he believes overconfidence in the vaccine rollout is a contributing factor to the increase in positivity.

"It suggests that as vaccine has rolled out more, people have become more causal in their interactions," said Fox. "If people overestimate the penetration of the vaccine and that’s inspiring them to be less cautious, there’s a consequence for that. We’re getting close, but we’re not quite there yet."