(La Porte County, IN) - COVID-19 is on the rise here, but things are not nearly as bad as some other parts of the nation.

Dr. Vidya Kora, an internal medicine doctor with the Franciscan Physician Network, said he has two patients with the virus in the hospital outside Michigan City. He said several others have COVID-19 at the same hospital, but the numbers pale in comparison to the strain placed on hospitals where the virus has really surged, like Florida and Arkansas.

Kora said winding up hospitalized are people who are not vaccinated. He advised people to persuade any loved ones or friends not vaccinated to get the vaccine. Kora said there is a slight percentage of vaccinated people contracting the virus, but they’re not the ones becoming seriously ill because of the protection offered by the vaccine.

According to the Indiana State Department of Health, the seven-day positivity rate in La Porte County now stands at 8.1-percent. The number of people tested who came back positive over the past seven days in Porter County is 7.0-percent. The rate in Starke County is 8.3-percent and 5.8-percent in St. Joseph County, according to ISDH.