Tippecanoe County’s confirmed COVID-19 cases rose to 102 Wednesday. Tippecanoe County Health Officer Dr. Jeremy Adler says five of those cases are employees of a Tyson Foods facility in Logansport, which shut down temporarily after workers there tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
The Indiana State Department of Health reported1,125 COVID-19 cases in Cass County in its Wednesday update.
“This situation in Cass County is a stark reminder for all of us of just how quickly this virus can spread, especially in settings with close contact,” Adler said.
IU Health Arnett’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. James Bien said the hospital was already experiencing an impact from the Cass County outbreak, citing a larger number of cases than reported in previous weeks.
“We have had a number of patients admitted over the last few days,” Bien said. “Our current census is about a dozen patients with COVID-19, and a similar number who are under investigation.”
Dr. Dan Wickert, vice president of medical affairs at Franciscan Health Lafayette, said that facility was seeing the same numbers, with cases from both Cass County and Montgomery County, where an outbreak was reported at a long-term care facility Sunday.
“The situation in Cass County is affecting our community, and will most likely continue to affect it for some time, and we cannot lose sight of that as we make decisions here locally about what we need to do and how we stay the course, in an effort to ensure we keep our numbers here as low as possible,” said Lafayette Mayor Tony Roswarski.
Adler said Tippecanoe County’s case surge is still expected to hit in the first or second week of May. Indiana’s stay-at-home order is currently set to end on Friday, May 1.