INDIANAPOLIS (WOWO): The associate chief medical executive at Indiana University Health says another surge of the coronavirus is not what healthcare workers wanted.

Dr. Paul Calkins says they’re already drained — emotionally, physically, and mentally — and many healthcare workers are “at the end of their rope.”

“You can only do this so long, before it becomes draining. It’s one of the huge problems we’re concerned about, whether this will lead to more staff losses because people just get to the end of their rope.”

Nearly 2,800 Hoosiers are in hospitals across the state with COVID right now, according to publicly-available data.

IU Health is now requesting backup from the Indiana National Guard to support hospital staff. Some teams have already arrived at Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie, as they’ve been hit the hardest locally with a spike in COVID patients.