As the number of Indiana cases of novel coronavirus climbed to four, a flood of calls into the state Health Department’s hotline has prompted officials to add an additional overnight shift of workers to help answer questions.

Meanwhile, health officials tried to calm fears at the same time as they announced a two-week closure of all Avon schools and said another Hendricks County child was exhibiting symptoms of the virus but is not a confirmed case.

“We need to prepare, we need to be safe, but we don’t need to panic,” said Dr. David Stopperich, Hendricks County health officer. “This is simply a virus.”

The best way to defeat the virus, health officials added at a news conference Monday, is to wash hands, restrain from touching one’s face, wipe down surfaces on which the virus can live, and stay away from others if you become ill.

Coronavirus in Indiana:How Hoosiers should prepare and what to expect

The Indiana State Department of Health hotline has been getting “a lot of very concerned citizens asking questions,” said Dr. Kris Box, Indiana state health commissioner. She said the department would be working with the Poison Control Center to ensure that it had sufficient staff to assist callers.

She said she did not consider the hotline overwhelmed with calls.

“No, not at all,” she said. “We’re just in the process of gearing up for what we expected.”

The ISDH call center can be reached at 317-233-7125.

The three adult cases identified so far in Indiana have all been associated with out-of-state travel, health officials said.

Two Central Indiana patients with symptoms of the illness known as COVID-19 are in isolation but not hospitalized. A patient in Noble County in northeastern Indiana is hospitalized in isolation in the intensive care unit of Parkview Noble Health.

All of the individuals are stable, she said.

Box declined to say Monday whether the Hendricks County youth diagnosed late Sunday night was related to the adult from that area who was diagnosed earlier in the weekend. She said that was confidential information.

The state has tested 32 people in all and is continuing to monitor a number of individuals considered high risk, state health officials say.

Once the state receives a presumptive positive test for COVID-19, local and state epidemiologists embark on trying to trace where the infected person has been recently and identify all of his or her close contacts, Box said. She said that it usually spreads when people have been in close contact “not just for a brief period of time but for a protracted period of time.”

However, she added that doctors don’t know whether the disease can be spread by those who are not exhibiting symptoms. In addition, she said, for some people, particularly children who are “great spreaders,” symptoms may be difficult to detect.

About 80% of people who develop COVID-19 have only mild to moderate disease. Health officials are most concerned about the remainder who may go on to have severe disease and potentially die. The elderly and those with pre-existing health conditions such as diabetes or hypertension are considered to be at the highest risk.

People who fear they have the disease but who have not had contact with a person known to be infected or been in an area where there are many cases should contact their health provider about their symptoms, Box said, as the symptoms of COVID-19 are the same as those of the flu, which is circulating. About 85% of flu tests are coming back positive, she said.

In the future, COVID-19 may become more like the flu in the way that society handles it.

“This is going to evolve, and we’re going to transition,” she said. “Eventually we will get to the point where we just live with COVID-19. We’re not at that point yet.”

Contact IndyStar reporter Shari Rudavsky at 317-444-6354 or shari.rudavsky@indystar.com. Follow her on Facebook and on Twitter: @srudavsky.