Indiana deaths, testing reach highs in state’s daily COVID-19 report

The Indiana State Department of Health on Wednesday said the number of positive cases for COVID-19 in the state has risen to 17,182, following the emergence of 594 more cases.

Meanwhile, new deaths and tests were the highest reported by the state in its daily update.

The number of new cases was lowest in the state’s daily report since last Wednesday, when it reported 341 new cases.

The state reported 627 new cases on Tuesday, 949 on Monday, 617 on Sunday, 715 on Saturday, 641 on Friday and 601 on Thursday.

The state said Wednesday that the cumulative death toll in the state rose to 964, up from 901 the previous day — an increase of 63.

That’s the largest number of deaths reported in the state’s daily report since the beginning of the pandemic. The previous high was 61 on April 21.

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

The state reported that 91,550 people have been tested so far, up from 87,181 in Tuesday’s report — an increase of 4,369 tests.

The increase marked a daily high in reported tests. The previous high was 4,269 on April 19.

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 5,295 cumulative cases — up from 5,080 the previous day, an increase of 215 cases.

The state reported 305 cumulative deaths in Marion County, up from 282 in Monday’s report.

The state said 24,000 people have been tested in the county.

As for surrounding counties, Hamilton had 746 positive cases; Johnson 563; Hendricks 658; Boone 186; Hancock 213; Madison 409; Morgan 140; and Shelby 194.

Every Indiana county has at least one case.

Elsewhere in the state, counties with at least 140 confirmed cases include Lake (1,786), Cass (1,125), St. Joseph (620), Allen (528), Clark (288), Elkhart (281), Bartholomew (241), Porter (232), LaPorte (209), Decatur (199), Floyd (174), Howard (169) and Delaware (156).

The department said 43.4% of the state’s intensive care unit beds were still available. About 17.5% are being used by COVID-19 patients.

The department also said 79.9% of the state’s ventilators were available. About 8% were being used for COVID-19 patients.

The health department is 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 Wednesday morning, 1,015,289 cases had been reported in the United States, with 58,529 deaths, according to a running tally maintained by health researchers at Johns Hopkins University & Medicine. More than 115,950 people have recovered.

More than 3.14 million cases have been reported globally, with 218,649 deaths. More than 948,693 people have recovered.