Virus cases among 20s, 30s rising, experts say
As Indiana gradually reopens, Lake County COVID-19 cases are rising among young people in their 20s and 30s, raising concerns they could unknowingly spread the virus to their families or co-workers, experts say.
About 30% of Lake County’s diagnosed cases are between 20-39, according to data from the Regenstrief Institute.
Figures show just over 300 cases, aged 0-19; 780 in their 20s; nearly 650 in their 30s; around 800 each in their 40s and 50s; nearly 700 in their 60s; almost 350 in their 70s; and 415 in their 80s or older.
For months, older adults were more likely to be diagnosed with the virus. But figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that almost as soon as states began reopening, the picture flipped, with people 18 to 49 quickly becoming the age bracket most likely to be diagnosed with new cases.
Younger people, especially without health problems like heart issues, high blood pressure, diabetes, kidney disease, cancer, or obesity are much less likely to see serious complications landing them in the intensive care unit.
Although there’s folks with no choice but to go to work in jobs exposing them to the public, a lot of transmission risks are more preventable, experts said.
“I think the biggest thing that we see is that 20- and 30-year-olds (are at) bars and restaurants, not wearing masks and not keeping that physical distance from each other,” said Thomas Duszysnski, director of epidemiology at Indiana University’s Fairbanks School of Public Health.
“The younger people tend to fare a little better with this virus. They are likely going to survive an infection,” he said. For older people, “the risk increases with each decade of life, where your likelihood of survival starts to diminish.”
Masks and social distancing are proven ways to curb the spread, he said.
This year, two Missouri hairstylists who worked with symptoms did not spread a single case after wearing masks and gloves, officials said. The two stylists tested positive in May, potentially exposing 140 clients and six co-workers to COVID-19.
“The virus is going to follow its own timeline,” Lake County Health Officer Chandana Vavillala said.
People who think they likely have been exposed to COVID-19 should get tested, Vavillala said. Anyone showing symptoms should be isolated for 10 days and need to be fever-free without medications for 72 hours.
Those with close contact to someone who tested positive needs to self-isolate for the 14-day incubation period.
Indiana is tentatively moving ahead with reopening.
Called “Stage 4.5,” the state will remain mostly in Stage 4 until July 17, meaning social gatherings may have no more than 250 people; restaurants can continue at 75 percent capacity with social distancing; and bars, cultural, entertainment and tourism sites, movie theaters, bowling alleys, amusement parks, water parks and raceways may operate at 50 percent capacity, also with social distancing.