Columbus Regional Health is reporting the lowest number of COVID-19 patients in more than eight months, with the hospital system going 24 hours without any COVID-19 hospitalizations earlier this week.
On Tuesday morning, there was one patient hospitalized with COVID-19 at CRH, unchanged from Monday but down from 51 people hospitalized on Jan. 9, according to hospital records.
CRH reported zero COVID-19 hospitalizations on Sunday for the first time since June 23.
Hospital officials attributed the decline in hospitalizations to increasing vaccinations of people who may be at higher risk for severe illness and warmer weather, which have led people to gather outdoors less often.
The virus that causes COVID-19 spreads "more readily indoors than outdoors," according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"Vaccinations, especially those with the highest risks being more likely to be fully inoculated by now, certainly seems to be having a positive effect on hospitalizations," said CRH spokeswoman Kelsey DeClue. "…Those mostly likely to have very severe disease and/or a hospital stay have had the chance to be fully vaccinated and for that inoculation to take full effect on their immune systems."
However, hospital officials are "watching for another surge" as people return to Columbus and the surrounding area from spring break trips.
"How this surge would play out in potential hospitalizations is still unknown, but we’d expect it to more directly affect community spread," DeClue said.
Bartholomew County residents age 60 and up account for 22.5% of confirmed cases of COVID-19, but 89.9% of deaths, including residents age 80 and up, who account for roughly half of all COVID-19 deaths in the county, according to the Indiana State Department of Health.
As of Tuesday morning, 63% of Bartholomew County residents age 60 and up had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 43% were fully vaccinated, according to state records and U.S. Census Bureau estimates.
Additionally, 74% of local residents age 80 and up have received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 66% were fully vaccinated as of Tuesday morning.
The U.S. has seen a dramatic turnaround since December and January, when hospitals were filled with patients after holiday gatherings and pandemic fatigue caused a surge in cases and deaths, The Associated Press reported.
There were about 40,212 people hospitalized with COVID-19 across the U.S. on Tuesday, down from 132,474 on Jan. 6, according to the COVID-19 Tracking Project.
A total of 922 people have been hospitalized at CRH over the course of the first year of the pandemic, the hospital said.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Age 45 and up eligible for vaccine” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Department of Health announced Tuesday that Hoosiers age 45 and older are now eligible to receive a free COVID-19 vaccine. This expansion of eligibility makes the vaccine available to an additional 415,640 Hoosiers.
To schedule a vaccine, visit https://ourshot.in.gov and select a location from one of more than 400 clinics around the state. Hoosiers who do not have a computer or cell phone or those who need assistance scheduling an appointment can call 211 or contact one of Indiana’s Area Agencies on Aging or AARP.
[sc:pullout-text-end]
