Indiana passes 32,000 mark for COVID-19 cases

The Indiana State Department of Health on Tuesday said the number of positive cases of COVID-19 in the state has risen to 32,078, following the emergence of 363 more cases.

The state reported 339 new cases on Monday, 475 on Sunday, 492 on Saturday, 473 on Friday, 662 on Thursday and 569 on Wednesday.

The department said Tuesday that the cumulative death toll in the state rose to 1,850, up from 1,832 the previous day — an increase of 18.

More than 91% of the total deaths involve those who are age 60 or older. More than 75% of those who have died are older than 70. Only 3.1% of the deaths have involved someone younger than 50.

According to the report, 876 deaths — or 47.8% of the state’s total — involved long-term care patients, as of May 25. More than 142 facilities have experienced at least one COVID-19 death.

The state said 230,749 people have been tested so far, up from 226,251 in Monday’s report — an increase of 4,498.

That’s the first time the number of new tests has dropped below 5,000 in a daily report since May 13.

The state said 13.9% of those tested so far have been positive for COVID-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.

Health officials say Indiana has far more coronavirus cases — probably tens of thousands more — than those indicated by the number of official tests. A study announced May 13 estimated at least 186,000 Hoosiers have or had COVID-19 through the end of April.

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 and first death from COVID-19 on March 16.

Marion County on Tuesday reported 9,268 cumulative cases — up from 9,189 the previous day, an increase of 79 cases.

The county’s cumulative death toll was 539, up from 533 in Monday’s report.

The state said 48,699 people have been tested in the county.

As for surrounding counties, Hendricks had 1,130 positive cases; Hamilton 1,115; Johnson 1,086; Madison 582; Hancock 321; Shelby 315; Boone 288; and Morgan 262.

Pike County has six cases, but every other Indiana county has at least eight.

Elsewhere in the state, counties with at least 220 positive cases include Lake (3,320); Cass (1,582); Allen (1,309); St. Joseph (1,205); Elkhart (1,057); Porter (490); Bartholomew (481); Clark (461); LaPorte (415); Tippecanoe (375); Jackson (367); Howard (365); Delaware (357); Floyd (314); Vanderburgh (248); Montgomery (231); White (226); Decatur (224); and Clinton (222).

The department said 40.8% of the state’s intensive care unit beds were still available. About 14.2% are being used by COVID-19 patients.

The department also said 82.1% of the state’s ventilators were available, with 5.2% being used for COVID-19 patients.

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

As of Tuesday morning, more than 1.66 million cases had been reported in the United States, with 98,811 deaths, according to a running tally maintained by health researchers at Johns Hopkins University & Medicine. More than 379,157 people have recovered.

More than 5.53 million cases have been reported globally, with 347,085 deaths. More than 2.25 million people have recovered.