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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe Indiana State Department of Health on Tuesday said the number of positive cases for COVID-19 in the state has risen to 21,033, following the emergence of 526 more cases.
That’s the lowest number of new cases in a daily report since April 22, when 341 were reported.
The state reported 574 new cases on Monday, 638 on Sunday, 665 on Saturday, 795 on Friday, 653 on Thursday and 594 on Wednesday.
The state said Tuesday that the cumulative death toll in the state rose to 1,213, up from 1,151 the previous day—an increase of 62.
That’s the second-largest number of deaths reported in the health department’s daily reports, exceeded by 63 deaths on April 29.
More than 91% of the total deaths involve those who are age 60 or older. More than 74% of those who have died are older than 70. Men account for more than 53% of the deaths.
The state reported that 115,834 people have been tested so far, up from 113,297 in Sunday’s report—an increase of 2,537. That’s the lowest number of new tests in the daily report since 1,964 were reported on April 26.
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 6,419 cumulative cases—up from 6,327 the previous day, an increase of 92 cases.
The state reported 374 cumulative deaths in Marion County, up from 363 in Sunday’s report.
The state said 29,076 people have been tested in the county.
As for surrounding counties, Hamilton had 859 positive cases; Johnson 730; Hendricks 785; Boone 207; Hancock 233; Madison 452; Morgan 171; and Shelby 229.
Every Indiana county has at least two cases.
The department said 43.5% of the state’s intensive care unit beds were still available. About 16.9% are being used by COVID-19 patients.
The department also said 80.2% 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 Sunday morning, 1.18 million cases had been reported in the United States, with 69,079 deaths, according to a running tally maintained by health researchers at Johns Hopkins University & Medicine. More than 187,100 people have recovered.
More than 3.6 million cases have been reported globally, with 252,346 deaths. More than 1.17 million people have recovered.
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Deaths are a lagging indicator….new cases are largely a function of testing and people feeling sick enough to need a test, so low numbers are good, but as more testing is available, I agree that the number of folks that have COVID is likely 5 x what is being reported so new cases could even go up as long as testing goes up. What is important COVID is driving a very low percentage of ICU and Ventilator use. I have always taken this virus very seriously and follow the rules, but opening up for business, smartly is the right move. We need to get back to work, social space, and wear a mask if in tight quarters.
Mark H. very well stated! We will have to learn to live with the virus for the foreseeable future.
If the governor uses new COVID-19 hospitalizations per day as the key metric for the Back on Track strategy, why doesn’t IBJ report this in this daily update? Seems to me this would be very useful information for your readers. And if IBJ doesn’t report it because the state doesn’t report it, then why doesn’t the state report it?
Percent of overall reported cases vs. Indiana population = 0.31%
Percent of overall reported deaths vs. Indiana population = 0.02%
Jeanne C., well stated. Put another way Overall cases = three tenths of one percent ; Overall deaths = two hundredths of one percent
How many deaths in Indiana from all other causes since the first Covid-19 death? That gives you an idea of scale.
While I agree the aggregate numbers are helpful, I wonder why the state doesn’t list “Active” cases. I’m sure there is a rationale and I am by no means a medical professional, I just think it is a metric that would be good to know as well.
We should be focusing on the R0 metric. How many people does on person infect. If it is less than 1, then cases are going down. If it is > 1 than cases are going up.