Health officials at IU Health Arnett in Lafayette say coronavirus cases at their facility are on the decline, following national trends.
But they warn that could change quickly and urge the public to remain cautious.
Hospital officials with IU Health Arnett said they have administered the first dose of the vaccine to 10,000 people, and the number of COVID-19 positive patients being treated at the hospital has fallen steadily over the past few weeks.
But Dr. Jim Bien, Chief Medical Officer with the hospital, said with a more-transmissible variant of the virus now in the state, it is not time to relax safety protocols.
“If people start to relax on those things because the numbers are down because ‘oh good it’s getting better,’ with a more transmissible germ around it’s going to bounce back very quickly,” he said.
Bien said he is especially concerned about students returning to campus - and the added risk that brings of spreading the virus to the community.
In its Friday COVID-19 dashboard update, Purdue University reported an overall spring positivity testing rate of 1.25%, out of just over 24,000 tests administered since January 1st.
Also Friday, the Indiana Department of Health reported 106 additional cases of coronavirus and three deaths in Tippecanoe County.