LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Starting tomorrow, Indiana health officials plan to broaden the criteria for COVID-19 tests at four drive-thru clinics across the state, including one in northern Clark County, Ind.
The Indiana State Department of Health began mobile testing Monday for health-care and other front-line workers with COVID-19 symptoms. Besides Ivy Tech Community College in Sellersburg, the clinics are in Evansville, Fort Wayne and Gary.
Indiana's health commissioner Dr. Kristina Box said the tests at those sites will now include household members of those workers -- but they must be sick or show COVID-19 symptoms.
"We know that if someone in your household is sick and you're a nurse or a physician, you really should probably stay home because of the risk of you showing up with a sickness," Box said at a briefing in Indianapolis.
"If we can test that individual and know that they're negative, then we feel much better about you being able to go about your job."
Tests also will be available for symptomatic residents considered at a higher risk for complications from the illness because of their age or weight, she said.
Clark County was one of nine counties to report at least 10 new infections of COVID-19 on Tuesday, adding 14 new cases. The county has 132 overall.
Floyd County has 111 confirmed cases.
Across Indiana, the number of new cases dropped for the fourth day in a row. The state health department reported 313 new cases, down from the 331 new cases announced Monday.
In all, 8,527 Hoosiers have confirmed illnesses from the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.
The figures, however, coincide with a lower number of tests conducted as some laboratories took the weekend off after working "nonstop" for weeks, Box said.
She has predicted a surge of cases in late April, first for Indianapolis and then for other parts of the state starting in early May.
Gov. Eric Holcomb said Tuesday that the next four to six days are "going to determine a lot for us."
"We are flattening the curve. We are slowing the spread. It's making a difference," he said. "We are looking right at that surge and trying to suppress it -- and your efforts are paying off."
The state reported 37 additional deaths, but those occurred over nearly a one-month period between March 15 and Monday. In all, 387 Indiana residents have died from the respiratory illness in roughly the past month -- more than twice the number of people who die from the flu during a typical seven-month season.
Last week, Box ordered group facilities like nursing homes to report known or suspected COVID-19 deaths more quickly. On Tuesday, she said she issued a new order letting long-term care facilities transfer patients and residents to other wings or to other facilities, including across county lines.
She said the move will let facilities cluster together residents who have tested negative for the disease while also allowing state approval for special COVID-19 units for sick patients.
"I know that the thought of moving residents in an already difficult time is incredibly stressful for families, and we have made it clear that families need to be notified of these plans," Box said.
She also acknowledged that creating dedicated COVID-19 units or facilities has been controversial, but she said the approach is "scientifically sound," can protect residents who don't have the illness and improve the quality of life for those who have tested positive.
At least 20 cases are linked to nursing homes or other care centers in Clark and Floyd counties.
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