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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe state’s largest hospital system, Indiana University Health, said admissions of COVID-19 patients at its 16 hospitals have been “pretty flat” over the past six or seven days, but it’s unclear whether the surge has peaked.
The latest caseload numbers are down slightly from those seen over the previous 10 days, although the data is somewhat mixed.
As of Monday, the system’s 16 hospitals had 247 patients with symptoms suggesting COVID-19. Of those, 231 patients had tested positive.
There were 308 patients with symptoms suggesting COVID-19 a week earlier, with 225 of those testing positive.
“My opinion is we still don’t have enough data to really know if we’ve been through the peak already, or it’s just a lull before the peak really hits,” said Dr. Chris Weaver, an emergency physician and senior vice president for clinical effectiveness at IU Health.
On Tuesday, Gov. Eric Holcomb said the state is seeing results from several weeks of social distancing, along with closed schools and businesses.
“We are flattening the curve,” he said. “We are slowing the spread. It’s making a difference. We are looking right at that surge and trying to suppress it.”
But he added that health officials won’t be able to reach any conclusions for perhaps a week on how the numbers could go. On Monday, health officials had said they expect the surge won’t peak until the last week of April or early May.
Numbers issued by the Indiana State Department of Health on Wednesday showed an increase in cases compared with reports from previous days.
The department said the number of presumptive positive cases for COVID-19 in the state has risen to 8,955 after the emergence of 428 more cases.
The state said the death toll in the state rose to 436, up from 387 the previous day, an increase of 49.
The numbers were higher than Tuesday’s figures, when 291 new cases and 37 more deaths were reported.
Deaths and positive cases are not always reported to the state immediately, which means the numbers can move inconsistently day to day.
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“We don’t have enough data”–we know that stay at home works, shutting down the economy works, but what’s the plan to exit from the current state and move back into a state resembling a functioning society?
Why is there not enough data? Protocol for testing has been reserved for those symptomatic. “Taking it as it comes” is not a proactive approach.
There seems to be a lack of planning for moving forward. Modelling must be very difficult with the limited number of people tested. What’s the plan?
I would hope IU health spread all over the state, just not Indy area, could say more about rural areas, compared to Marion county.