Columbus Regional Health has said it has started to see an uptick in patients testing positive for COVID-19 and expects that the community may be on the verge of a late summer spike.
CRH officials said the uptick in cases has not led to an increase in hospitalizations or critically ill patients and do not expect any potential spike any cases this summer to strain the hospital system’s resources.
Bartholomew County has seen spikes of COVID-19 during the summer months before. In August 2024, CRH saw a wave of cases that had “some effect out in the community but really not a huge impact on hospitalizations,” said spokeswoman Kelsey DeClue.
“I’m thinking we are probably in for a repeat of that maybe in the coming weeks with a late summer ‘spike,’” DeClue said. “(It’s to be determined) if its similar in scale to what we saw last year.”
The update from CRH comes as data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that COVID-19 infections and emergency room visits related to the illness are likely rising in most states.
COVID-19 viral activity detected in wastewater has recently risen to what the CDC considers to be in the medium category after being in the low category for several months.
In the Midwest, COVID-19 viral activity in wastewater has been rising in recent weeks, reaching its highest level since March, but is still in the low category, according to the CDC.
In Bartholomew County, the concentration of COVID-19 detected in wastewater has been ticking up since June, according to the Indiana Department of Health. However, it remains far below levels detected during winter waves of the virus and during last year’s summer spike.
“Starting (at) end of July and first of August, we’ve seen a pretty significant uptick in terms of the presence of COVID in wastewater,” said Dr. Christopher Doehring, vice president of medical affairs at Franciscan Health’s Indianapolis campus. “…They’re detecting it in very high levels in many counties around the state of Indiana.”
Doehring said the wastewater data suggests that there is increased COVID-19 activity, but he suspects that people are getting more mild cases or may be asymptomatic given that there has not been a significant increase in hospitalizations or severely ill patients or healthcare workers.
CRH, for its part, said it is encouraging people to take precautions to reduce the risk of getting sick.
“We’d reinforce continued awareness and precautions for prevention, as similarly to flu season, etc.,” DeClue said. “Wash hands often, cover cough, stay home if you’re sick unless you need to seek medical attention and particularly be cognizant of helping protect the more vulnerable and immune-compromised who would suffer more serious illness if exposed.”
