LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Indiana lags behind its goal of testing thousands of Hoosiers per day for COVID-19, a shortfall the state’s health commissioner blames on the lack of equipment to conduct proper tests in some parts of the state.
On April 6, Dr. Kristina Box said she hoped that within several weeks laboratories could be processing 6,300 tests each day. The Indiana State Department of Health has not reported more than about 3,300 tests in a single day.
For now, she said, Indiana's labs have the capacity to meet the state’s goals.
“We have the ability to run the test,” Box said Wednesday. “We need to now make sure we have the ability to take the test.”
She said she’s encouraging physicians and health care providers to test people who are sick and believed to have COVID-19, even if they don’t have underlying health conditions. Previous criteria for testing focused on those Hoosiers.
But even if those people ought to be tested, Box said there might not be a place nearby with the necessary swabs and testing materials.
“That may be a barrier to some of them, and we are working to make sure that we identify those gaps and those barriers and remove those to the best of our ability,” she said.
Indiana’s ability to test, and to conduct “contact tracing” of those who had close contact with people diagnosed with COVID-19, will become increasingly critical as the state looks to re-open businesses and industries that are now closed.
Indiana reported new data on COVID-19 Wednesday and cautioned Hoosiers not to view lower numbers of infections as reflecting reality.
The state announced fewer infections for the third day in a row. But the Indiana State Department of Health tweeted that the figures of new cases and tests "are lower than expected due to a technology issue and should not be interpreted as a decline in new infections.
"The additional positive cases not included in today’s report will be captured in the coming days and reflected appropriately," the tweet said.
The 394 new cases that were reported are down from the 431 disclosed on Tuesday. The Indiana State Department of Health said Monday there were 505 new cases, compared with 577 from Sunday.
Indiana also reported 31 new deaths linked to the illness caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. In all, 661 Hoosiers have died from COVID-19 complications.
Clark County has 188 cases; Floyd County has 149.
Statewide, Indiana has 12,438 diagnosed cases of COVID-19.
Gov. Eric Holcomb earlier this week cleared the way for some elective surgeries to occur starting next week. That move marks the first easing of restrictions the governor enacted last month as Indiana reported increasing COVID-19 cases.
While he hasn't said when other businesses may begin to gradually re-open, Holcomb has encouraged employers to start planning for workplaces that must meet social distancing and other public health guidelines.
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