Doctor Shares His COVID-19 Experience As Holcomb Extends Stay-At-Home Order To May 1,2020

By Victoria Ratliff
TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS—Dr. Ram Yeleti of Community Health Network stood with Gov. Eric Holcomb and Dr. Kristina Box in early March as together they announced the first case of COVID-19 to be diagnosed in Indiana.

Friday, as he gave Yeleti a chance to share his family’s personal experience with the disease, Holcomb said is extending the statewide lockdown until May 1 because of the highly contagious virus.

Yeleti, in the governor’s daily virtual press briefing, provided a rare, first-hand account of the novel coronavirus and how it can affect people differently. Answering questions from Box, he described about how he contracted a relatively mild form of COVID-19 that left him with a cough and fatigue while his wife, Indira, ended up in a hospital intensive care unit.

Yeleti said his illness began with a scratchy throat and he immediately quarantined himself from the rest of his family. After being tested, his fears were confirmed as test results came back positive.

“It was a little more terrifying than I expected it to be quite honest,” he said.

In spite of his precautions, his wife contracted the disease. Her symptoms were much more severe and included body aches and nausea.

After being rushed to the hospital, his wife was admitted to the hospital and ICU. She underwent treatment using an investigative drug and has since been released from the hospital and is now back at home.

“We just had to do whatever we can,” he said. “There were hundreds of people praying for her and I think that goes a long, long way. Faith and hope and prayer during these times, I just can’t stress enough how important that it.”

Also Friday, Box provided the daily count of new COVID-19 cases and the number of fatalities—642 new positive ones, bringing the state’s total to 10,154, and 42 additional deaths, with 519 total statewide.

Box provided additional information about positive COVID-19 cases in the state, including the average length of a hospital stay for patients. Of a group of 7,955 COVID-19 positive patients, 2,763 made emergency room visits and 2,026 were hospitalized.

Of those hospitalized, 501 patients were admitted to the ICU. Hospital stays averaged nine days for those who were not admitted to the ICU and 10.4 days to those who were admitted to the ICU.

“We are going to continue to work on getting more data, specifically breaking this down by race and by gender and by ethnicity, and we’ll be able to give that data to you as that comes on board,” she said.

Box also said that 3,718 new patients were tested in a single day, the highest number so far. She said while the reported daily cases are increasing day-to-day, the public shouldn’t be alarmed as plans to reopen the economy begin. That’s because as more people are tested there will be more positive results.

However, some lawmakers say there should be more testing in some parts of the state.

Rep. Mara Candelaria Reardon, D-Munster, sent a letter Friday to Holcomb asking for more tests to be administered in Lake County, the county with the second highest number of cases and deaths, only behind Marion County.

“Though the population of Marion County is twice the size of Lake County, Marion County has conducted four times the amount of COVID-19 tests, leaving vulnerable communities in Lake County suffering as a direct result,” she said in the letter.

She added that widespread testing is the key to safely reopening the economy.

Holcomb has said that Indiana’s economy will gradually be reopened and has asked for input from some of the state’s business sectors about how to do it safely.

Meanwhile, the state’s latest employment statistics were released Friday, showing an unemployment rate of only 3.2%.

That data reflects the state of Indiana’s workforce as of mid-March, just before the worst of the pandemic led to widespread business closures and job losses. Fred Payne, the commissioner of the Department of Workforce Development, reported Thursday that the state saw record numbers of unemployment claims over the preceding three weeks.

Payne noted Friday that his department worked overtime to get the system up and running that allows Hoosiers to apply for the supplement unemployment insurance recently approved by the federal government.

FOOTNOTE: Victoria Ratliff is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.