Gov. Holcomb gives update on COVID-19 in Indiana

Governor Eric Holcomb and state health officials on Wednesday gave an update on Indiana’s response to COVID-19 as the Omicron variant surges across the United States.

Holcomb thanked healthcare workers and asked that Hoosiers continue getting vaccinated against the virus if eligible.

Holcomb said he has signed another extension of the state's COVID-19 public health emergency order. 

Indiana State Health Commissioner Dr. Kristina Box said that all Indiana counties are in the “orange” and “red” levels of community spread of COVID-19.

The state is working to acquire more rapid tests due to the increase in demand for testing, Box said.

Box said health officials are seeing a higher level of transmission of the virus across the state with the arrival of the Omicron variant.

The Delta variant remains the dominant strain of COVID-19 in Indiana, Box said, but she added she expects that to change. 

Box said updated recommendations for Indiana schools will be released “in the next 24 hours.”

Dr. Lindsey Weaver, Chief Medical Officer for the Indiana Department of Health, said the state's hospitalization census is the highest it’s been in five years.

Weaver asked people not to go to the emergency room just for a COVID-19 said, saying that ERs are “stretched to the limit.”

For more information on COVID-19 in Indiana, visit the state's dashboard. 

For updated guidance on COVID-19 vaccines, boosters, quarantine requirements and face mask usage, visit the CDC's website.