Indiana reports surge in COVID-19 cases as testing hits high mark

The Indiana State Department of Health on Friday said the number of positive cases for COVID-19 in the state has risen to 18,630, following the emergence of 795 more cases.

That’s the second highest number of new cases reported by the state in one day. The previous high was 949 on Monday, when cases surged because of a major outbreak in Cass County at a meat-processing plant.

The state reported 653 new cases on Thursday, 594 on Wednesday, 627 on Tuesday, 949 on Monday, 617 on Sunday and 715 on Saturday.

The state said Friday the cumulative death toll in the state rose to 1,062, up from 1,007 the previous day — an increase of 55.

About 91% of the total deaths involve those who are age 60 or older. About 73% of those who have died are older than 70.

The state reported that 99,639 people have been tested so far, up from 94,998 in Thursday’s report — an increase of 4,641 tests. That’s the highest number of new tests reported by the department in a daily report, exceeding the 4,369 tests on Wednesday.

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 5,754 cumulative cases — up from 5,530 the previous day, an increase of 224 cases.

The state reported 339 cumulative deaths in Marion County, up from 328 in Monday’s report.

The state said 25,926 people have been tested in the county.

As for surrounding counties, Hamilton had 794 positive cases; Johnson 616; Hendricks 701; Boone 189; Hancock 227; Madison 428; Morgan 156; and Shelby 213.

Every Indiana county has at least two cases.

Elsewhere in the state, counties with at least 150 cases include Lake (1,929), Cass (1,214), St. Joseph (642), Allen (588), Clark (316), Elkhart (293), Bartholomew (261), Porter (240), LaPorte (224), Decatur (200), Delaware (182), Floyd (182), Howard (176) and Jackson (157).

The department said 43.1% of the state’s intensive care unit beds were still available. About 17.4% are being used by COVID-19 patients.

The department also said 80.7% 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 Friday morning, 1,070,032 cases had been reported in the United States, with 62,996 deaths, according to a running tally maintained by health researchers at Johns Hopkins University & Medicine.

More than 3.27 million cases have been reported globally, with 233,704 deaths. More than 1 million people have recovered.