COVID-19 death toll in Indiana passes 900

The Indiana State Department of Health on Tuesday said the number of positive cases for COVID-19 in the state has risen to 16,588, following the emergence of 627 more cases.

The new-case figure marks a decrease from Monday’s report, when a major outbreak of positive cases in Cass County boosted the daily count to a new high.

The state reported 949 new cases Monday, 617 cases on Sunday, 715 on Saturday, 641 on Friday, 601 on Thursday and 341 on Wednesday.

The state said Tuesday that the cumulative death toll in the state rose to 901, up from 844 the previous day — an increase of 57.

About 91% of the deaths involve those who are age 60 or older. About 72% of those who have died are older than 70.

The state reported that 87,181 people have been tested so far, up from 84,476 in Monday’s report — an increase of 2,705 tests.

The ISDH said the test numbers reflect only those tests reported to the department and the numbers should not be characterized as a comprehensive total.

New positive cases, deaths and tests have occurred over a range of dates but were reported to the department in the previous day.

The department reported the state’s first case on March 6.

Marion County reported 5,080 cumulative cases — up from 4,926 the previous day, an increase of 154 cases.

The state reported 282 cumulative deaths in Marion County, up from 267 in Monday’s report. The state said 22,811 people have been tested in the county.

As for surrounding counties, Hamilton had 729 positive cases; Johnson 548; Hendricks 645; Boone 185; Hancock 204; Madison 401; Morgan 136; and Shelby 191.

Every Indiana county has at least one case.

Elsewhere in the state, counties with at least 140 confirmed cases include Lake (1,715), Cass (1,101), St. Joseph (602), Allen (504), Clark (283), Elkhart (269), Bartholomew (238), Porter (228), Decatur (195), LaPorte (199), Floyd (173), Howard (158) and Delaware (152).

The department said 44.2% of the state’s intensive care unit beds were still available. About 16.7% are being used by COVID-19 patients.

The department also said 79.5% of the state’s ventilators were available. About 9% were being used for COVID-19 patients.

The health department is providing case updates daily based on results received through 11:59 p.m. the previous day.

Health officials say Indiana has far more coronavirus cases — possibly thousands more — than those indicated by the number of tests.

As of Tuesday morning, 990,135 cases had been reported in the United States, with 56,386 deaths, according to a running tally maintained by health researchers at Johns Hopkins University & Medicine. More than 111,580 people have recovered.

More than 3 million cases have been reported globally, with 212,221 deaths. More than 906,350 people have recovered.