At today’s briefing aired here on WAMW. Indiana Health Commissioner Kris Box clarified the order issued yesterday which authorizes shuffling nursing home patients within facilities or into new ones to keep those who have coronavirus separate from those who don’t. The state isn’t requiring nursing homes to create COVID-19 units, but the order invalidates any local attempts to block it as Daviess County did earlier this month after an attempt by a nursing home operator to concentrate coronavirus patients at a facility. Box says there are limits on the order
The Indiana State Department of Health reported that 27 percent of the state’s COVID-19 deaths are among those in long-term care facilities. Unfortunately, that coincides with the most at risk group for COVID-19.