Lafayette hospitals ‘under extreme pressure’ with surge of COVID patients, ill frontline workers.

LAFAYETTE – Hospitals are struggling to handle a surge of patients amid new highs in Tippecanoe County’s COVID cases, and it’s starting to take a toll on local health care workers. 

In the most recent seven days, Tippecanoe County has reported an average of more than 110 cases a day. 

The county had reported a total of 5,137 positive cases, 19 deaths and has a seven-day positivity rate of 12.5% for unique individuals, according to state figures reported Friday.

There were 46 COVID-19 patients in Lafayette’s two hospitals, IU Health Arnett and Franciscan Health, as of Wednesday, according to Tippecanoe County Health Department data. That was up from 38 the previous week and 22 the week before that.

Of those 46, 14 patients were in intensive care units and four were placed on ventilators.