Indiana outpacing US death toll from COVID-19

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — This week, COVID-19 cases leveled off in Indiana, but health professionals warn if Hoosiers let down their guard for the holidays and continue to travel and have large family gathering, record numbers of positive cases and deaths could develop.

COVID-19 cases were already on the rise prior to Thanksgiving. The surge in numbers was partially hidden by an increase in community spread.

Thomas Duszynski of the Richard Fairbanks School of Public Health said if people continue to ignore warnings from health professionals, a record number of cases could be ahead. “I think we are going to go back to those 6,000, 7,000, 8,000 cases a day, where we were before unfortunately, and to be a little bit grimmer unfortunately, we are going to hit 10,000 more deaths in the state of Indiana by the end of January.”

The state reported Wednesday that 7,306 Hoosiers have died of COVID-19; 1,457 of those deaths occurred in December. A total of 476,538 Hoosiers have tested positive for COVID-19. Of those, 18,460 are students, 3,798 are teachers and 4,610 are staff members in K-12 schools. According to the Indianapolis-based Regenstrief Institute, 308,629 Hoosiers are estimated to have recovered from the virus.

A surge in cases means a surge in deaths, and Indiana could see almost a third of all of its deaths from this pandemic in the next 45 days. Duszynski said, “We are currently outpacing the U.S. average in Indiana, as well as (in) Illinois and Michigan. The three of us are kind of in a tie for mortality. That is some place we don’t want to be right. We are well above what the U.S. average is in Indiana.”

He says community spread is so high that Hoosiers should assume anyone they come in contact with is infected and now is not the time for people to drop their guard. Reconsider traveling, going to religious services, gathering with people outside of the immediate family, or shopping in crowded areas. Pandemic fatigue and a sense or belief that the virus is not that bad is adding fuel to the fire. Duszynski says Hoosiers must continue to wear masks, practice physical distancing, and get flu shots.   

“I have never met anyone that wouldn’t help somebody else, and this is great way to help other people. Even if you don’t want to believe in this, this is great way to help people,” Duszynski said. 

 The COVID-19 vaccines has been available for a week, but the complete benefits of the vaccine are not expected until summer or fall.