Brown County now has two cases of COVID-19.
The first was reported on March 23 and the second on March 27.
Dr. Norman Oestrike, Brown County’s health officer, declined to provide any further information about the patients, such as their age, if they have any underlying health issues, and if they are hospitalized. The health department’s concern was that someone could recognize the patients from the information provided.
“Brown County is so small,” said Jennifer Unsworth, nursing supervisor at the Brown County Health Department.
“There’s a process happening and then we’re directed by ISDH (Indiana State Department of Health) on how to handle it.”
The county health department said in a press release late last week that they were working to identify who this person may have come into close contact with and would “take appropriate steps and monitor the situation closely.”
“If you are not directly contacted by either state or local public health, you would not be considered direct contact with that case,” the Brown County Emergency Management Agency reported on Friday.
“Please continue to follow the governor’s stay-at-home order. Treat all you come in contact with as if they are positive. Maintain a 6-foot distance between you and others around you, and be safe.”
As of March 27, Indiana had 981 positive cases of COVID-19 with 24 deaths reported. The first COVID-19 case was confirmed in Indiana on March 6.
In a press conference Friday afternoon, Indiana State Health Commissioner Dr. Kristina Box said she expected cases in Indiana to peak in mid- to late April.
She said the state did not have data yet on how many patients had recovered from the virus, but her team was working on that. However, they wouldn’t know how many people had recovered at home, without a hospital stay.
The state is maintaining a website, coronavirus.in.gov, with data on all cases in the state. On March 27, it added age and gender demographic information on who was getting sick.
Ages 50-59 and 60-69 were the highest percentages statewide, at 18 percent and 17.6 percent, respectively. The next-highest percentages were ages 40-49 (15.6 percent) and ages 30-39 (15 percent).
Patients in their 70s made of 12.5 percent of cases, ages 80 and older, 8.3 percent, and younger than 20, 1.8 percent.
Statewide, women make up more positive cases than men do: 52 percent to 48 percent.
There is no place to get tested for the virus in Brown County, but doctor’s offices and hospitals are screening people over the phone when they call. Those health care providers decide who will get tested.
Brown County Public Health Preparedness Coordinator Corey Frost said that county officials do not receive data on how many Brown County residents have been tested for COVID-19 at area hospitals or private physician offices. They only get data on positive tests.
If a resident tests positive, that result is sent to the Indiana State Department of Health, which then shares it with local health departments. Regardless of where a resident is tested, positive cases are categorized to a resident’s home county.
Melissa Stinson, human resources coordinator for county government, said that any information that would possibly identify a person with the virus would not be publicly released “for the safety of the person who has it.”
“Think about how people reacted to people with AIDS,” she said.
