Coronavirus in Indiana: US surgeon general calls Indianapolis 'emerging hotspot' on Twitter

U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams took to Twitter Sunday morning to discuss what success looks like as the nation continues to battle the growing coronavirus pandemic.

Within his address, he called Indianapolis an emerging COVID-19 hotspot, along with cities like New Orleans, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles and Miami.

Adams, formerly Indiana's state health commissioner, said in a series of tweets that began shortly after 10 a.m. Sunday that the focus needs to be on flattening the curve and raising the bar.

He said flattening the curve refers to driving down the need for coronavirus care by following the advice of health professionals, while raising the bar means increasing our capacity to respond.

He said that requires new resources and repurposing of existing resources at the federal, state and local level.

Adams then praised the work being done in states like Washington, California and New York. He says millions of protective items have been shipped, new field hospitals have been built and "tens of thousands of repurposed anesthesia ventilators are available to respond to demand."

He said we must now focus on flattening the curve and raising the bar in emerging hotspots like Indianapolis, New Orleans, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles and Miami.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases grew to 676 Sunday morning along with 10 deaths. One week prior, the state was reporting just 82 cases in Marion County, meaning the county has seen nearly 600 news cases in a week's time.

Taylor Schaffer, spokeswoman for Mayor Joe Hogsett's office, said in an email that city officials agree that the country's top priority should be flattening the curve. She said that is why local city, county and state leaders are working closely with public health partners to enact policies aimed at slowing the spread of the virus.

She added that the emerging data underscores the importance of the restrictions put into place by Hogsett, Gov. Eric Holcomb and Marion County Public Health Department Director Dr. Virginia Caine in recent weeks.

"The 'stay-at-home' order may be inconvenient but it is the most effective way of flattening the curve," Schaffer said.

Adams said long term success is all about treatment, vaccines, improved public health infrastructure and the understanding that the virus may stick around even after the stay-at-home orders end.

"An important final point — short term success often means aggressive mitigation/social distancing/shut downs, but this is finite," Adams tweeted. "The sooner/more fully a community embraces it, the shorter the timeline."

Call IndyStar reporter Justin L. Mack at 317-444-6138. Follow him on Twitter: @justinlmack.