State reports rise in new COVID-19 cases, deaths, testing

The Indiana State Department of Health on Thursday said the number of positive cases of COVID-19 in the state has risen to 33,068, following the emergence of 595 more cases.

That’s the largest number of new cases since May 21, when 662 cases were reported.

The state reported 359 new cases on Wednesday, 363 on Tuesday, 339 on Monday, 475 on Sunday, 492 on Saturday and 473 on Friday.

The department said Thursday that the cumulative death toll in the state rose to 1,907, up from 1,871 the previous day—an increase of 37. That’s the highest number of new deaths contained in the daily update since May 21, when 48 were reported.

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 2.9% 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 242,287 people have been tested so far, up from 235,333 in Wednesday’s report—an increase of 6,954. That’s the highest number of new tests since May 21, when 7,257 were reported.

The state said 13.6% 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 Thursday reported 9,524 cumulative cases—up from 9,371 the previous day, an increase of 151 cases.

The county’s cumulative death toll was 558, up from 546 in Wednesday’s report.

The state said 50,517 people have been tested in the county.

As for surrounding counties, Hamilton had 1,132 positive cases; Johnson 1,092; Hendricks 1,142; Boone 305; Hancock 323; Madison 584; Morgan 277; and Shelby 368.

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

The department said 39.2% of the state’s intensive care unit beds were still available. About 16.2% are being used by COVID-19 patients.

The department also said 82.1% of the state’s ventilators were available, with 5.7% 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 Thursday morning, more than 1.7 million cases had been reported in the United States, with 100,576 deaths, according to a running tally maintained by health researchers at Johns Hopkins University & Medicine. More than 391,500 people have recovered.

More than 5.73 million cases have been reported globally, with 356,435 deaths. More than 2.37 million people have recovered.