Elkhart County reported a record 131 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday. Those findings were reported on Thursday, Oct. 8, by the State Department of Health.
That surpasses the county’s previous daily case record of 112, reported back in June. County health officials are concerned that area hospitals could soon be overwhelmed.
When asked how quickly hospitals could reach capacity, Elkhart County Health Department spokesperson Melanie Sizemore said, soon.
“The hospital systems are already looking at their search plans and possibly having to reroute patients," Sizemore said. "So we’re just about there now.”
Sizemore said that the health department hasn’t seen as many people getting tested as in past months, yet positive cases are still spiking. She said that if people don’t know they’re sick, then they don’t know to take precautions or to seek treatment, and that's what can lead to overburdened hospitals.
“We’ve skipped the preventative measure and we’re going straight to the reactive measure, which is hospitalization,” Sizemore said.
Sizemore said she knows people are tired of hearing it, but the best ways for peopel to prevent community spread are to wear a mask, wash their hands and practice physical distancing.
Contact Gemma at gdicarlo@wvpe.org or follow her on Twitter at @gemma_dicarlo
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