Indiana hiring company to boost coronavirus testing

Indiana health officials announced a plan Tuesday for a significant increase in coronavirus testing as the governor said he was preparing details on perhaps relaxing business restrictions later in the week.

The state’s deal with OptumServe Health Services calls for the company to open 20 testing sites around the state within the next week, with 30 more sites during the following two weeks. Those sites are intended to provide COVID-19 testing for 100,000 people within 30 days, said Dr. Lindsay Weaver, chief medical officer with the Indiana State Department of Health.

That’s more than the some 87,100 procedures reported to the state health department since coronavirus testing began in early March. Testing has been largely limited to people who are seriously ill and to health care workers.

The testing will be provided for free to anyone with COVID-19 symptoms without the need of a doctor’s order, Weaver said.

“This will provide a more complete picture about the spread of the virus, not only in high-risk populations but across the entire state,” Weaver said.

OptumServe, which is a division of insurance giant UnitedHealth Group, has a $17.9 million contract with the state, which officials hope will be covered by federal grants, Weaver said. But neither Weaver nor Gov. Eric Holcomb explained how the company was selected during the governor’s coronavirus briefing Tuesday.

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Indiana’s death toll from confirmed coronavirus cases has topped 900, with nearly 100 other people having died with presumed infections, state health officials said Tuesday.

The Indiana State Department of Health reported 57 additional deaths, boosting the state’s confirmed COVID-19 death toll to 901 since the first fatality was recorded seven weeks ago. Most of the newly reported deaths happened between Friday and Monday, but one dates back to April 18.

Three more presumed COVID-19 deaths added to the state statistics give Indiana 91 such fatalities. Those are deaths that state officials said doctors blame on coronavirus infections without confirmation of the illness from test results.

Indiana’s confirmed COVID-19 death toll has more than doubled since the 437 recorded as of April 12 while Gov. Eric Holcomb has continued discussing steps toward easing business restrictions imposed under the statewide stay-at-home order.

Holcomb said Monday he was considering information such as hospitalization and death rates, along with the availability of intensive care unit beds and ventilators for those who are seriously ill.

The latest state statistics showed 546 COVID-19 patients were in the intensive care units of Indiana hospitals and that 44% of ICU beds remained available as of Monday. That’s 75 fewer coronavirus patients in those ICUs than last Thursday.