Amy Plummer of Churubusco collects information at a drive-through COVID-19 testing site inside the Rensselaer Fire Department on Wednesday, December 2, 2020. (Michael Gard / Post-Tribune)
Dale Murphy of Morocco was among the first vehicles in line recently at a drive through testing site at the Rensselaer Fire Department set up the Indiana State Department of Health in partnership with the Jasper County Health Department.
Murphy works for the Newton County Highway Department were he said a lot of his coworkers also were being tested because a few people had turned up positive for COVID-19.
“It’s preventative maintenance,” Murphy said, adding he did not think he had worked close enough with the individuals who did become sick to be sick himself.
Murphy was among hundreds of Jasper and Newton County residents seeking testing recently when the Indiana State Department of Health hosted a weeklong drive-through COVID-19 testing site at the Rensselaer Fire Department on Clark Street.
Debra Nagel, nursing administrator for the Jasper County Health Department, said cases are on the rise and the need for testing has dramatically increased.
The county hosted three drive through testing days prior to the week-long testing event. At the last one-day testing in Wheatfield in November, more than 600 people showed up, showing the need for more testing, Nagle said.
“It was a huge turnout,” Nagle said.
Those numbers were being rivaled at the week-long site. Erin Bliffen, Indiana State Department of Health testing site lead, said 199 people were tested the first day. The second day, the line of cars stretched around the building.
The two rural counties were largely missed by the early wave of pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. In recent weeks, that has changed as the two counties’ positivity rates have pushed them into Gov. Eric Holcomb’s red status, with the most stringent restrictions.
Jasper County, with a population of 33,562, has 2002 cases and a 7-day positivity rate of 14.2 percent. The county added 34 cases during the last week of reporting, according to the iSDH COVID-19 Dashboard. Newton County has 694 confirmed cases among its 13,984 residents, 12 of which were new. Its positivity rate is 14.3 percent.
“Where we are seeing more cases come from is from large gatherings. People are still having weddings, they are still having parties, church functions and funerals. It seems like those are where the majority of cases are coming from,” Nagle said.
Schools, which have been conducting in-person learning, do not appear to be a large source of infection, Nagle said. Students and staff have to wear masks, social distancing is practiced and frequent hand washing is encouraged.
“The schools are doing excellent jobs,” Nagle said.
Even regular Sunday mass does not appear to be a source of spread. Nagle said most people during church services are not getting up and moving around and coming in close contact with other parishioners like they do at other events.
Scott Van Loon of Wheatfield was in line at the fire station testing site with his son Austin, 12. Austin was there to be tested because he was experiencing symptoms and was required to quarantine and get tested by the school before he could return. Austin was experiencing headaches, cough, congestion and stomach and digestive issues.
He received his test from the passenger seat of his dad’s car.
“It didn’t really hurt. There was a little bit of a tickling,” he said.
Van Loon said he wasn’t too concerned about the virus and its potential impact on his son if he did contract it.
“I don’t want anyone to be sick, but he’s a strong kid. I don’t think he will be affected much,” Van Loon said.
Nagle fears many people just do not understand the situation many hospitals are now facing as the numbers continue to climb. People are used to being able to go to the doctor or emergency room and get service anytime they may need care.
“That’s not going to be the case if things continue like this,” Nagle said.
Deborah Riley, director of patient care services for Franciscan Health Rensselaer, said the rising number of cases is concerning.
“The hospital in the last few weeks really felt the surge,” Riley said. People have been coming to the small critical access hospital’s emergency room experiencing COVID-19 or suffering from chronic conditions that have gone out of control..
At any given time, up to half of the hospital’s 25 beds are filled with COVID-19 patients, Riley said. Acutely ill patients who need to be placed on ventilators are transferred to larger hospitals since their conditions can deteriorate very quickly, she said.
Those who remain at the hospital are visited by the various specialists they need to see via telemedicine at their bedside, Riley said. The more cases that come in, the more difficult it becomes to get them transferred to other facilities as needed, she said.
Staff is working extra shifts, cross training, and doing what they can to ensure sifts are covered. In a small facility, Riley said it is more difficult to cover extra shifts at a small hospital because there just are not as many workers from which to draw.
Riley said early during the pandemic when hospitals were struggling with the number of COVID-19 patients, Franciscan Health Rensselaer was not seeing that.
“We did not feel it like the other hospitals did. Now we are feeling all of that,” she said.
“I think people have been lax,” Riley said.
She said people are tired of isolating and seemed to begin gathering more at the end of summer and into fall.
Thanksgiving and the holidays that follow are an opportunity for the virus to spread quickly, Riley said. She worries people who are positive may not follow the guidelines and quarantine, especially if their symptoms are mild, potentially spreading the virus.
“That worries me particularly. If they are positive, will they keep themselves in quarantine,” Riley said.
Nagle also fears many county residents people are not taking the safety precautions seriously.
“The numbers are going up rapidly. We have to do what we are supposed to be doing. We need to be wearing masks. We need to be social distancing. We need good hand hygiene,” she said.
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