File photo Gov. Eric Holcomb speaks during a press conference at Camp Atterbury in Edinburgh.
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb and state health officials Wednesday painted a grim picture of the current state of the pandemic, warning that they expect a “very steep rise” in COVID-19 cases in coming weeks as the omicron variant converges with an ongoing delta surge.
The number of Hoosiers hospitalized with COVID-19 has reached its highest level in a year, and the overall hospital census in Indiana is at its highest level in five years, officials said. Just 9.2% of the state’s ICU beds were available Wednesday, the fewest available so far during the pandemic, according to the Indiana Department of Health.
Patients are being held in the emergency room for hours and sometimes days until a bed becomes available, officials said. Others are being cared for in hallways and conference rooms.
Hospitals are also reporting critical staffing shortages and staff are exhausted, officials said. The Indiana National Guard has been deployed to about two dozen hospitals across the state to help ease staffing issues.
On top of that, Indiana is experiencing a shortage of rapid tests that has led to a 78% decrease in the weekly supply that state testing facilities have as people line up at some testing sites an hour before they open, officials said.
And “this situation will get worse before it improves,” said Indiana State Health Commissioner Dr. Kristina Box during a news briefing Wednesday.
“We once again are facing a very bleak situation with this pandemic,” Box said.
For the complete story, see Thursday’s Republic.
