Indiana reports 450 more COVID-19 cases, highest daily death increase in two weeks

The Indiana State Department of Health on Tuesday said the number of positive cases of COVID-19 in the state has risen to 28,705, following the emergence of 450 more cases.

The state reported 477 new cases on Monday, 498 on Sunday, 625 on Saturday, 602 on Friday, 580 on Thursday and 346 on Wednesday.

The department said Tuesday that the cumulative death toll in the state rose to 1,678, up from 1,621 the previous day—an increase of 57. That’s the highest number of deaths in the daily health department update since May 5, when 62 deaths were reported.

More than 91% of the total deaths involve those who are age 60 or older. About 75% of those who have died are older than 70. Men account for 50.9% of the deaths. Only 3% of the deaths have involved someone younger than 50.

According to the report, 732 deaths—or 44% of the state’s total—have involved long-term care facilities.

The state said 189,330 people have been tested so far, up from 183,912 in Monday’s report—an increase of 5,418. Daily testing has exceeded 5,000 in eight of the last 10 days.

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—possibly 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 8,541 cumulative cases—up from 8,406 the previous day, an increase of 135 cases.

The county’s cumulative death toll rose to 497, up from 480 in Monday’s report.

The state said 43,225 people have been tested in the county.

As for surrounding counties, Hamilton had 1,042 positive cases; Johnson 1,016; Hendricks 1,050; Boone 261; Hancock 301; Madison 553; Morgan 250; and Shelby 298.

Pike County has five cases, but every other Indiana county has at least seven.

The department said 41.4% of the state’s intensive care unit beds were still available. About 16% are being used by COVID-19 patients.

The department also said 80.3% of the state’s ventilators were available, with 6.7% 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.

As of Tuesday morning, more than 1.51 million cases had been reported in the United States, with 90,432 deaths, according to a running tally maintained by health researchers at Johns Hopkins University & Medicine. More than 283,100 people have recovered.

More than 4.83 million cases have been reported globally, with 319,213 deaths. More than 1.8 million people have recovered.