Fewer people are in the hospital with COVID-19, specifically the Omicron variant. But, that doesn’t mean the pandemic and the worry for hospitals and medical personnel is over, said Brain Tabor, president of the Indiana Hospital Association.

“We are seeing declines in the toal number of COVID patients, which is starting to, and I’m knocking on wood here, relieve some of the strain,” said Tabor, in an interview with IndyPolitics. “This has been the hardest point, I’d say, at any point in the pandemic.”

Tabor said that the strain on health care workers all over the state has been profound and they could use the relief.

“We’re seeing an uptick, though in southern Indiana and into Kentucky. So, if you can imagine this as a weather front, it’s moving south a bit,” he said.

The number of deaths in the United States has gone up while the number of people in the hospital has gone down.

“We set a record just a couple of weeks ago, the number of COVID cases. And, it wasn’t just COVID. On top of the number of COVID cases, we had a record number of total hospitalizations,” he said. “That wave has crested a bit. We seem to be trending in the right direction.”

But, Tabor said he doesn’t believe the Omicron wave has passed.

“We’re still seeing a lot of cases. But, it does appear that Omicron is leading to fewer hospitalizations,” he said. “I want people to still get vaccinated and take precautions. It doesn’t mean that Omicron isn’t dangerous. It just means that overall it’s leading to fewer hospitalizations.”