Monroe County pandemic numbers keep rising, like statewide trend

Monroe County’s pandemic numbers continue to trend in a bad direction, according to Indiana’s COVID-19 dashboard, which was updated  Monday at noon.

In the initial stages of the current surge, Monroe County’s positive case numbers looked like they might be leveling off at around 20 a day. Now, the county’s rolling average number of positive cases stands at around 30, which is five times the number at the start of July.

Hospitalization numbers are also trending up. At last Friday’s news conference of local leaders on pandemic response, Brian Shockney, president of IU Health’s south central region, reported a recent doubling of the health provider’s hospital numbers.

“Our COVID-19 census has increased from an average of 60 patients per day in early July, to almost 130 patients per day this last week,” Shockney said.

On Monday morning, a social media description of Bloomington’s hospital had patients lining the walls of the emergency department due to limited beds

Responding to a question from The B Square about the social media description, an IU Health spokesperson said in an emailed statement: “We are seeing a concerning increase in patients with COVID-19 requiring hospitalization.”

The statement added, “Our team members are well-prepared to care for those who need it and we have plans in place for increasing capacity to meet the needs of our patients and community.”

The statement from IU Health’s spokesperson continued, “We are asking our communities to do their part in protecting themselves and others from COVID-19: get vaccinated, wear a mask when going out in public, avoid being in groups and crowds, wash your hands regularly and stay home and isolated when you are sick.”

Statewide, the average daily hospital census of COVID-19 patients has tripled since early July, from 400 to 1370.