A patient with a Decatur County address who died at Columbus Regional Hospital Wednesday is the hospital’s first death from COVID-19.
Columbus Regional Health confirmed that an out-of-county patient with COVID-19 died at the hospital early Wednesday morning, but declined to provide any more details about the patient, citing privacy laws, said CRH spokeswoman Kelsey DeClue.
“Our sincere condolences go out to this individual’s family and loved ones,” DeClue said in a statement. “For weeks we have seen the national statistics and the rising increase of deaths. Now it hits home even more for us at Columbus Regional Health and our surrounding community as we’ve experienced this tragedy firsthand. Our hearts go out to all those affected by this, including our own care teams.”
As of Thursday, there were 3,309 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Indiana, including 59 cases in Decatur County and 15 cases in Bartholomew County, according to the Indiana State Department of Health.
A total of 78 people in Indiana with COVID-19 have died. Three Decatur County residents have died, according to state health officials.
So far, no deaths involving a Bartholomew County resident due to COVID-19 have been confirmed.
Hospital officials said there were nine patients being treated for coronavirus at CRH on Thursday, with four of them receiving treatment in the intensive care unit.
One of the four patients in the intensive care unit is in critical condition, hospital officials said, with the other three listed as “stable critical.” The remaining five patients being treated for COVID-19 are in stable condition, hospital officials said.
Bartholomew County Coroner Clayton Nolting said earlier this week he is awaiting test results of a possible COVID-19 death involving a Bartholomew County resident. Test results are expected in seven to 10 days on that case, Nolting said.
Nolting said the coroner’s office has investigated 54 deaths so far this year, and only one is under investigation for novel coronavirus.
No identification on the individual is being released at this time, pending the test results and a ruling on the cause of death, Nolting said earlier.
