More than 100 local residents have tested positive for a potentially deadly virus that’s sweeping the state, state health officials said Tuesday.
Locally, 114 Johnson County residents have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, said Betsy Swearingen, director of the Johnson County Health Department. Three Greenwood residents, all over the age of 75, have died.
Indiana’s number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 grew by 374 to 2,159, according to the Indiana State Department of Health.
The death toll in the state has risen to 49, up from 35 the previous day, the state health department said.
At Otterbein Franklin SeniorLife Community, a local senior care facility where an outbreak has occurred, two additional employees have tested positive, said David Sease, spokesperson for Otterbein Franklin. As of Monday, three employees and one therapist tested positive; three employees and two therapists tested negative; and results for another therapist were pending, Sease said.
Through a partnership with Eli Lilly, Otterbein plans to test all of its employees in the coming days. Otterbein Franklin’s medical director will test all employees prioritized by role, with direct caregivers being first, Sease said.
Sixteen Otterbein Franklin SeniorLife Community residents have tested positive for the virus. Eight of those residents remained hospitalized Monday; seven were in isolation at the facility; and one returned home, Otterbein officials said. They were still waiting on three residents’ test results Monday afternoon.
The outbreak originated last week with a therapist who was admitted to the hospital and tested positive. Otterbein Franklin has more than 500 residents, 165 of whom are in the nursing home where the outbreak has occurred, and about 300 employees.
Otterbein coordinated with local and state health departments on a “unit management plan,” which lays out guidelines for isolation practices, including three levels of isolation, Sease said.
“It effectively isolates residents in units aligned to their current condition. The plan establishes a unit dedicated to caring for residents that have tested positive for COVID-19,” he said.
“The plan specifically identifies conditions and timing for moves, either to a lesser level as a resident recovers and is no longer infectious, or to a higher level — or even the hospital — should conditions worsen.”
With help from the county’s incident management team, or task force, Otterbein Franklin was given additional personal protective equipment on Saturday, which is required to operate the isolation unit, Sease said.
Despite reports of a second COVID-19 outbreak in Johnson County, Otterbein is the only one, Swearingen said.
“Another (senior care) facility had one case, but that is not an outbreak,” she said. “We are continuing to work daily with Otterbein along with the state.”
The state health department on Tuesday reported that 13,373 people have been tested so far, up from 11,658 in Monday’s report. The ISDH said the test numbers reflect only those tests reported to the department and the numbers should not be characterized as a comprehensive total.
Nearby Marion County reported 964 cases—up 160 cases from the previous day—with 17 deaths.
Every county in the Indianapolis area has at least a dozen cases each. More than 80 of Indiana’s 92 counties have reported cases.
The health department is providing case updates daily at about 10 a.m. based on results received through 11:59 p.m. the previous day.
Health officials say Indiana has far more coronavirus cases—possibly thousands more—than those indicated by the number of tests.
As of Tuesday morning, 164,719 cases had been reported in the United States, with 3,170 deaths, according to a running tally maintained by health researchers at Johns Hopkins University & Medicine.
More than 803,300 cases have been reported globally, with 39,014 deaths. More than 172,650 people have recovered.
The Indianapolis Business Journal contributed to this report.
