Indiana COVID-19 deaths hit daily high, toll rises to 245

The Indiana Department of Health on Thursday reported the most daily deaths to date due to coronavirus, 42, bringing to 245 the number of state residents who have died from COVID-19. New cases also continued to rise: 408 new positive tests brought the statewide total to 6,351.

Every county in the Indianapolis metropolitan area reported more than 60 cases. Marion County reported 125 new cases, bringing the total in Indianapolis to 2,415 cases with 81 deaths, an increase of 23 from Wednesday. Elsewhere in central Indiana, counties reported the following number of cases: Hamilton (395), Hendricks (256), Johnson (248), Madison (146), Hancock (100), Morgan (82), Boone (84) and Shelby (61). The Indianapolis metro region accounts for roughly 60% of total Indiana reported coronavirus cases.

Outside of central Indiana, counties with 60 or more cases as of Wednesday include Lake (525), St. Joseph (150), Decatur (107), Allen (105), Clark (96), Porter (93), Floyd (88), Bartholomew (83), Ripley (77), Franklin (64) and Monroe (61).

In addition to Marion County, these counties have reported five or more deaths: Lake (19), Hamilton (16), Madison (11), Johnson (11), Hendricks (8), Allen (7), Clark (7), Franklin (7), Lawrence (7) and Decatur (6) .

The largest proportion of positive cases  —  20.7%  — are people ages 50-59. Women account for 54.6% of positive cases in Indiana, and men account for 45.4%.

People age 60 and older account 87.8% of all Indiana deaths from COVID-19 but just 36% of total cases. Of the deaths reported in Indiana, 60.3% have been men.

The health department cautions that the number of positive cases is presumptive and includes only the number of positive test results reported to the agency.

The health department is providing case updates daily at about 10 a.m. 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.

The state is providing daily COVID-19 updates online.