The Indiana State Department of Health is working to increase COVID-19 testing availability in the northern and southern parts of the state, but resources remain limited.
During state officials’ Tuesday COVID-19 briefing, State Health Commissioner Dr. Kris Box said a targeted drive-through testing site will be set up at Merrillville High School starting Wednesday. “This clinic will be reserved for health care workers, long-term care workers, first responders, and essential workers who are symptomatic of COVID-19,” she explained.
Similar testing sites are expected to open in Clark and Vanderburgh counties later this week. Box said there still aren’t enough resources to test those who aren’t showing symptoms, even though it’s still possible for them to spread the coronavirus. That’s why it’s important to stay home.
Meanwhile, Box said long-term care facilities remain a big concern. “In addition to the 11 residents of Bethany Pointe in Madison County who have died, we are aware of another facility in Madison County with four deaths, which appear to be COVID-related,” Box reported. “There have also been four deaths in a long-term care facility . . . in Johnson County and three at the facility in Lawrence County.”
Box noted that in just a few weeks, Indiana’s seen more deaths from COVID-19 than it typically sees during an entire year from the flu. She warned residents to brace for that number to increase as the disease gets closer to its peak.
