Indiana COVID-19 cases top 10,000 as daily case toll sets record

The Indiana State Department of Health on Friday said the number of presumptive positive cases for COVID-19 in the state has risen to 10,154, following the emergence of 612 more cases.

The 612 new cases are the most the department has reported in its daily update since the beginning of the pandemic.

New reported cases have increased daily for the past three days, with 587 reported Thursday, 428 on Wednesday and 291 on Tuesday.

The state said Friday that the cumulative death toll in the state rose to 519, up from 477 the previous day — an increase of 42 deaths.

Deaths and positive cases are not always reported to the department immediately, which means the numbers can move inconsistently day to day. The department reported the state’s first case on March 6.

The state reported that 54,785 people have been tested so far, up from 51,115 in Thursday’s report. 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.

Marion County reported 3,518 cases — up from 3,320 the previous day, an increase of 198 cases. The state reported 182 cumulative deaths in Marion County, up from 164 in Thursday’s report. The state said 17,571 people have been tested in the county.

As for surrounding counties, Hamilton had 542 positive cases; Hendricks 407; Johnson 371; Madison 305; Boone 145; Hancock 132; Morgan 111; and Shelby 97.

Every Indiana county has at least one case.

Elsewhere, counties with at least 90 reported cases are: Lake (1,026), St. Joseph (358), Allen (271), Decatur (165), Porter (155), Clark (151), Floyd (130), Bartholomew (130), Elkhart (130), LaPorte (129), Monroe (108) and Delaware (91).

In addition to Marion, counties with 10 or more deaths are: Lake (42), Hamilton (31), Johnson (30), Madison (28), Decatur (17), Hendricks (17), Allen (16) and Clark (10).

The health department is now providing case updates daily at noon 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 Friday morning, 72,246 cases had been reported in the United States, with 33,325 deaths, according to a running tally maintained by health researchers at Johns Hopkins University & Medicine. More than 56,240 people have recovered.

Nearly 2.2 million cases have been reported globally, with 147,632 deaths. More than 556,700 people have recovered.