State reports another big rise in COVID-19 cases, 43 more deaths

The Indiana State Department of Health on Thursday said the number of positive cases for COVID-19 in the state has risen to 17,835, following the emergence of 653 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 594 cases on Wednesday, 627 on Tuesday, 949 on Monday, 617 on Sunday, 715 on Saturday and 641 on Friday.

The state said Thursday that the cumulative death toll in the state rose to 1,007, up from 964 the previous day — an increase of 43.

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 94,998 people have been tested so far, up from 91,550 in Wednesday’s report — an increase of 3,448 tests.

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 5,530 cumulative cases — up from 5,295 the previous day, an increase of 235 cases.

The state reported 328 cumulative deaths in Marion County, up from 305 in Monday’s report.

The state said 24,953 people have been tested in the county.

As for surrounding counties, Hamilton had 755 positive cases; Johnson 579; Hendricks 667; Boone 190; Hancock 218; Madison 420; Morgan 152; and Shelby 201.

Every Indiana county has at least one case.

Elsewhere in the state, counties with at least 150 cases include Lake (1,846), Cass (1,164), St. Joseph (633), Allen (560), Clark (293), Elkhart (287), Bartholomew (250), Porter (238), LaPorte (218), Decatur (200), Floyd (178), Delaware (176) and Howard (172).

The department said 42.5% of the state’s intensive care unit beds were still available. About 17.6% are being used by COVID-19 patients.

The department also said 80.6% of the state’s ventilators were available. About 9% 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 Thursday morning, 1,043,595 cases had been reported in the United States, with 61,187 deaths, according to a running tally maintained by health researchers at Johns Hopkins University & Medicine. More than 124,290 people have recovered.

More than 3.22 million cases have been reported globally, with 228,908 deaths. More than 993,029 people have recovered.