Indiana’s COVID-19 case total rises by 359, deaths by 21

The Indiana State Department of Health on Wednesday said the number of positive cases of COVID-19 in the state has risen to 32,473, following the emergence of 359 more cases.

The state reported 363 new cases on Tuesday, 339 on Monday, 475 on Sunday, 492 on Saturday, 473 on Friday and 662 on Thursday.

The department said Wednesday that the cumulative death toll in the state rose to 1,871, up from 1,850 the previous day—an increase of 21.

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 235,333 people have been tested so far, up from 230,749 in Tuesday’s report—an increase of 4,584.

The state said 13.8% 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 9,371 cumulative cases—up from 9,268 the previous day, an increase of 101 cases.

The county’s cumulative death toll was 546, up from 539 in Tuesday’s report.

The state said 49,395 people have been tested in the county.

As for surrounding counties, Hamilton had 1,123 positive cases; Johnson 1,092; Hendricks 1,135; Boone 293; Hancock 323; Madison 582; Morgan 270; and Shelby 3321.

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

The department said 41.3% of the state’s intensive care unit beds were still available. About 15.8% are being used by COVID-19 patients.

The department also said 82.9% of the state’s ventilators were available, with 5.9% 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 Wednesday morning, more than 1.68 million cases had been reported in the United States, with 99,123 deaths, according to a running tally maintained by health researchers at Johns Hopkins University & Medicine. More than 384,900 people have recovered.

More than 5.62 million cases have been reported globally, with 351,815 deaths. More than 2.31 million people have recovered.