The Indiana State Department of Health is taking action to slow the spread of COVID-19 in long-term care facilities. State Health Commissioner Dr. Kris Box said Wednesday that the state’s seen 31 deaths among residents of 12 facilities.
“We know that there will be more cases,” Box said during Wednesday’s press conference, “so today, I will be issuing an order requiring that directors of long-term care facilities, residential facilities, jails, prisons, or any congregate setting must report to their local health department and to the Indiana State Department of Health within 24 hours if you have a known or suspected case of COVID-19 in your facility, if you have an individual who dies of COVID-19 or a suspected case of COVID-19, or an employee who tests positive for COVID-19.”
She says the state’s COVID-19 strike teams have tested nearly 600 people at various types of facilities, with 191 coming back positive.
Indiana Family and Social Services Administration Chief Medical Officer Dr. Dan Rusyniak is overseeing communication between the state and long-term care facilities. “This disease creates the potential for a perfect storm in a long-term care facility: large groups of vulnerable people living together and a highly-transmissible virus that may not cause symptoms in those who care for them,” he said.
Dr. Rusyniak added that the state is working to let certain long-term facilities dedicate themselves to COVID-19 patients who are getting out of the hospital but not yet well enough to go home.
