Fishers Health Dept. Chief Medical Director Dr. Indy Lane and Public Health Director Monica Heltz issued a joint statement Nov. 5 that urged residents to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 as cases continue to rapidly increase.

“Currently, our community is experiencing a rapid increase in individuals positive with COVID-19. The trends for Fishers, central Indiana and the nation are very concerning,” the statement read. “Over the course of the last several months, the Fishers Health Dept. has been accruing and reviewing a variety of data and research into the changing nature of this virus. Our team is currently finalizing our analysis of all the data we have been collecting to get a true and comprehensive understanding of the course of this pandemic and the appropriate actions to take to further mitigate the spread in our community.”

The statement said the Fishers Health Dept. was not recommending schools or businesses close, but that additional mitigation measures should be taken to keep public, shared locations as safe as possible.

The Fishers Health Dept. plans to provide an update and more recommendations following its board of health meeting scheduled for Nov. 10.

In the meantime, the department suggested residents should wear a mask, distance from others, wash hands and not gather in private residences.

Fishers Health Dept. does not receive COVID-19 hospitalization data specific to the Fishers area. Instead, it receives data for all of District 5, which includes Hamilton, Boone, Marion, Hendricks, Hancock, Shelby, Johnson and Morgan counties.

As of Nov. 9, there were 52.3 percent of ICU beds in use for non-COVID patients and 18.2 percent of ICU beds in use for COVID patients in District 5 hospitals, leaving 29.5 percent of ICU beds available. There were 22.32 percent of ventilators in use for non-COVID patients and 4.3 percent of ventilators in use for COVID patients in District 5, leaving 72.5 percent of ventilators available. Hamilton County had an average of 234 new weekly cases per 100,000 residents with a 6.91 percent seven-day positivity rating.

For more, visit fishers.in.us/COVIDrec.

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