COVID-19 hospitalizations at Columbus Regional Hospital have remained high after rising sharply to their highest levels of the pandemic earlier this week, and the local death toll continues to rise.
Updated figures from the hospital show that there were a record 70 COVID-19 hospitalizations at CRH on Monday, surpassing the previous records of 62 on Jan. 14 on and 59 on Dec. 2, 2020.
On Thursday, hospitalizations stood at 63, down slightly from 67 the day before, the hospital said.
By Friday morning, there were 48 people hospitalized with COVID-19 — including five patients listed in critical condition. However, hospital officials have said that hospitalizations tend to increase as the day transpires. On at least one occasion, 13 people were admitted to CRH with COVID-19 in one day.
Additionally, state health officials reported eight new deaths from the virus in Bartholomew County and the surrounding area — including two in Bartholomew County, two in Brown County, two in Jennings County and one each in Decatur and Shelby Counties.
At least 35 people the Columbus area — including nine in Bartholomew County — have died from COVID-19 so far this month. COVID-19 has claimed 215 lives in Bartholomew County since spring 2020.
“An unrelenting surge, an unrelenting influx of patients — it’s an unrelenting tragedy of continued death,” said CRH spokeswoman Kelsey DeClue in a previous interview.
The update from the hospital comes as coronavirus hospitalizations in Indiana remain near all-time highs and infections and emergency room visits soar.
On Wednesday, there were 3,506 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Indiana, just shy of the record 3,519 set on Jan. 13, according to the most recent data available at press time from the Indiana Department of Health.
The latest COVID-19 surge, which officials believe is being fueled by the ultra-contagious omicron variant, has sent an average of 26 Bartholomew County residents to hospital emergency rooms every day this year, resulting in 48 people being hospitalized, according to the Regenstrief Institute.
At least 3,385 Bartholomew County residents have tested positive for COVID-19 since Jan. 1, including 289 on Wednesday, according to the Indiana Department of Health.
However, those figures likely undercount the total number of infections, as they do not include most people who tested themselves or those who did not get tested for one reason or another.
Local health officials are continuing to plead with people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and get their booster shot when they’re eligible. Nearly 29,900 eligible Bartholomew County residents have yet to get vaccinated, state records show.
