RICHMOND, Ind. — Less than a week after the first official presumptive positive case of the novel coronavirus in a Wayne County resident, the second instance has been announced.
The Wayne County Health Department on Monday afternoon said the new case involves a patient who is self-isolating at home. No further information about the person was released because of privacy laws.
Wayne County first announced a resident had a presumptive positive test on March 19, but that person later was reassigned to Fayette County by state health officials, who said the patient had spent most of their time in Fayette County caring for someone who also had tested positive for COVID-19.
That made a presumptive positive test that came back on March 25 the first official case involving a Wayne County resident.
Presumptive positive means the initial test by the state department of health is positive. The test then is sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for confirmation.
Wayne County residents helping to slow the number of local cases, health officer says
According to the latest numbers released by the Indiana State Department of Health on Monday morning, there were 1,786 cases of the disease across the state. Among Wayne County's neighbors, there were 28 positives in Franklin County, eight in Fayette County, two in Henry County, one in Randolph County and none in Union County.
On the other side of the state line, there have been 30 cases in Butler County, 12 in Darke and one in Preble.
"In Wayne County, we have been able to slow the case numbers down compared to some of our neighboring counties. This is all due to the sacrifices and cooperation of our citizens," Dr. David Jetmore, the county's health officer, said in a statement. "We have always known we would have more cases. We just try to minimize the numbers."
As of 10 a.m. Monday, Reid Health was reporting it had sent out 121 tests with 11 coming back presumptive positive, 88 negative and 22 still pending. Reid's patients come from a multi-county area.
Latest update: Coronavirus in Indiana: Here's what we know and the latest COVID-19 updates
Wayne County officials welcome extension on social distancing guidelines
Wayne County officials said the news from Sunday that President Donald Trump had decided to extend the federal social distancing guidelines through the end of April was welcome. Trump previously had indicated he would like to have the restrictions loosened in time for Easter on April 12.
"It was a tremendous relief. Some of his comments were frightening to me," said Christine Stinson, executive director of the Wayne County Health Department.
"If we open up too soon and pull these restrictions back too soon, you'll just see a surge that no health care system can possibly keep up with."
Ken Paust, president of the Wayne County Board of Commissioners, said orders issued by county and city officials in recent weeks appear to be paying off, but that doesn't mean it's time yet to begin moving back to business as usual.
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"Based on what I see here in Wayne County, I definitely think we should continue doing what we're doing. We're certainly not one of the major hot spots, and I don't want to be one of the hot spots," he said.
According to Stinson, the quick actions taken locally have helped to keep Wayne County from seeing the kinds of rising numbers that have hit Fayette and Franklin counties so far.
"We came out earlier than the state direction came out and closed down some places that we felt were non-essential and highly dependent on very close personal contact with their clients. We were also a little more restrictive with our restaurants," she said.
"I am very reluctant to lift any of our directions. We're holding the line, and we do fully expect to see more cases."
During Gov. Eric Holcomb's press conference Monday, state officials said they believe the COVID-19 surge will peak sometime between mid-April and mid-May in Indiana.
“From all indications, we will continue to see numbers increase over the next few weeks in the state and in Wayne County. The more the community abides by the stay-home orders, the better the community will fare," Stinson said.
Jason Truitt is the team leader and senior reporter at the Palladium-Item. Contact him at 765-973-4459 or jtruitt@pal-item.com.
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Coronavirus in Indiana: Wayne County has second presumptive positive COVID-19 case - Palladium-Item
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