MUNCIE — The sharp rise in emergency room visits during the COVID-19 pandemic caused Delaware County Health Department officials to sound the alarm Tuesday.
Jammie Bane, Delaware County Health Department administrator, said that ongoing discussions with local healthcare providers have raised concerns over the status of COVID-19 in East Central Indiana.
“Early on we talked about flattening the curve in order to protect our critical healthcare infrastructure and its ability to care for individuals needing any form of medical care," Bane said in the release. "We’re seeing some changes to this now, with single digit hospitalization numbers in the past (increasing) to numbers approaching 50 at some points now.”
On Oct. 8, IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital saw more than 170 people utilize its emergency department, about one-third of whom were coming in for COVID-19 concerns.
Daily hospitalizations for COVID-19 set a record high on Monday at 156 patients according to the Indiana State Department of Health's hospital census across District 6, which includes most of East Central Indiana.
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