AUDIO: Dearborn County Health Department Director Updates Public On COVID-19

Thursday, July 16, 2020 at 11:05 AM

Bubba Bo had the opportunity to talk with DCHD Director Dr. Stephen Eliason about the rise of cases in Dearborn County this morning.

(Dearborn Co., Ind.) - This morning, Dearborn County Health Department Director Dr. Stephen Eliason stopped by the studio to speak to Bubba Bo about the rising cases of COVID-19 in Dearborn County.

The biggest increase was seen in late April and early May where the community hit 181 positive cases and 23 deaths. Within the last three weeks, cases grew from 193 to 296 positive cases and two additional deaths.

With Dearborn County holding less than 50,000 residents, Bubba Bo asked how alarming these numbers are to the health department.

"It is definitely a serious problem" says Dr. Eliason; however, he goes on to look at the ratio of deaths to positive cases from the start of the pandemic to what the county is seeing now. "For that first 181 cases, we had 23 deaths. For the next roughly 120 cases, we so far only have two deaths."

When it comes to wearing masks, the DCHD Director stresses the importance of personal responsibility from all member of the community.

"I would like to emphasis the individual responsibility to take it upon yourself to wear a mask and social distance," says Dr. Eliason. "If people do it voluntarily, it is less likely the state could enforce that."

Listen to the full interview with Dr. Stephen Eliason below: