NEW (OCT. 14):
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb says he'll announce a decision Wednesday on the mask mandate that is set to expire Saturday. Indiana's nearly 1,300 COVID-19 hospitalizations as of Monday are up 70% in the past three weeks.
Statistics released Tuesay, Oct. 13th by the Indiana State Dept. of Health indicate that the data for the last six days of COVID-19 reporting (Wed., Oct. 7 - Mon., Oct. 12) indicate that the Hoosier state has recorded six of its highest days of virus outbreak since the pandemic began.
Here are the daily case totals for that period:
Wed., Oct. 7: 1,480 new cases
Thurs., Oct. 8: 1,823 new cases
Fri., Oct. 9: 1,937 new cases
Sat., Oct. 10: 1,577 new cases
Sun., Oct. 11: 1,576 new cases
Mon., Oct. 12: 1,569 new cases
Indiana health officials have added 27 more coronavirus-related deaths to the state’s pandemic toll as the state’s COVID-19 hospitalizations and rates of new infections continue sharp increases. The 1,288 COVID-19 hospitalizations as of Monday are up 70% in the past three weeks, which is when Gov. Eric Holcomb decided to lift nearly all of Indiana’s restrictions on businesses and crowd sizes while keeping the statewide mask mandate. The newly recorded deaths raise the state’s death toll to 3,822. That’s an increase of 111 deaths in the past week. Indiana’s seven-day rolling average of new confirmed infections is up 90% increase from three weeks earlier.
PREVIOUS POST (Oct. 10)
Once again data released by the Indiana State Dept. of Health indicates the state has hit another new all time high in coronavirus daily cases. The numbers were released just before noon Saturday and reflect statistics from Friday, Oct. 9.
(You can read more below from the ISDH release.)
The Indiana Department of Health today announced that 1,945 additional Hoosiers have been diagnosed with COVID-19 through testing at the state laboratory, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and private laboratories. That brings to 133,411 the total number of Indiana residents known to have the novel coronavirus following corrections to the previous day’s dashboard.
A total of 3,555 Hoosiers are confirmed to have died from COVID-19, an increase of 21 from the previous day. Another 227 probable deaths have been reported based on clinical diagnoses in patients for whom no positive test is on record.
PREVIOUS POST (Oct. 9)
Indiana shattered its record for COVID-19 cases reported in a single day Friday, with more than 1,832 Hoosiers testing positive for the virus – following two weeks of worsening numbers.
The state has reported more than 1,000 new cases for nine of the last 14 days.
Over the last week, 105 Hoosiers have been confirmed to have died because of COVID-19 – the highest one-week total since June 20.
The state’s hospitalization rate has also seen an increase – with 1,187 Hoosiers hospitalized with the novel coronavirus. That’s the highest since May 21. The state’s ventilator supply remains steady, but availability of ICU beds is at its lowest – 30.3 percent, or 672 open beds – since the state started reporting that number in early April.
Earlier this week, State Health Commissioner Dr. Kris Box said Indiana’s recent COVID-19 numbers are concerning, but also cautioned that much of the state is still in a low-risk position.
Gov. Eric Holcomb has emphasized his ongoing position: It’s the responsibility of all Hoosiers to help mitigate the virus’s spread.
Holcomb lifted almost all COVID-19 restrictions two weeks ago.
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In a statement Friday, Democratic gubernatorial candidate, and former state health commissioner, Dr. Woody Myers called the new numbers "preventable." He urged pulling the state back into an earlier stage of the state's reopening plan.
"Continuing with Stage 5 of the reopening plan puts Hoosiers on a similar road as the Trump administration, which only drives Hoosiers to tragic and cruel outcomes, risking our lives," Myers said in a statement.
Contact Lauren at lchapman@wfyi.org or follow her on Twitter at @laurenechapman_.
