Indiana COVID-19 surges: 34 more deaths as cases top 5,500

Indiana’s coronavirus death toll spiked by 34 as of Tuesday, the State Department of Health reported, bringing the total to 173 lives claimed by COVID-19. Meanwhile, the number of presumptive positive cases rose to 5,507, an increase of 563 cases.

Every county in the Indianapolis metropolitan area reported more than 50 cases. Marion County reported 185 new cases, bringing the total in Indianapolis to 2,141 cases with 48 deaths. Elsewhere in central Indiana, counties reported the following number of cases: Hamilton (363), Hendricks (225), Johnson (212), Madison (137), Hancock (89), Morgan (79), Boone (74) and Shelby (51). The Indianapolis metro region accounts for more than 61% of total Indiana reported coronavirus cases.

Outside of central Indiana, counties with 50 or more cases as of Tuesday include Lake (418), St. Joseph (129), Decatur (90), Allen (87), Porter (84), Clark (82), Ripley (76), Floyd (74), Franklin (60), Bartholomew (55) and Monroe (54). In several counties, the number of new cases reported as of 11:59 p.m. appeared to decline. The number of cases in Decatur County, for instance, remained unchanged from Monday.

Aside from Marion County, Madison County has reported 11 deaths, all from one Anderson nursing home. Five or more deaths also have been reported in these counties: Lake (11), Hamilton (10), Clark (7), Franklin (7), Johnson (7), Allen (6), Decatur (6), Hendricks (5) and Lawrence (5).

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 department reported that as of Tuesday, 28,764 tests had been reported.

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 largest proportion of positive cases – 20.4% – are people ages 50-59. Women account for 54.8% of positive cases in Indiana, and men account for 45.2%.

Among deaths, people age 80 and older account for the largest proportion, 38.2%. Of the deaths reported in Indiana, 63.1% have been men, and 36.9% have been women.

The state is providing daily COVID-19 updates online.

As of Tuesday morning, 368,449 cases had been reported in the United States, with 10,783 deaths, according to a running tally maintained by health researchers at Johns Hopkins University & Medicine. More than 19,972 people have recovered.