Statewide pandemic numbers hit new heights in November

In every significant statistical category, November has been a record-setter for the COVID-19 pandemic in Indiana, with cases, deaths and hospitalizations far exceeding even the early months of the coronavirus outbreak.

So far, with one day left in the month, the Indiana State Department of Health has reported an increase of 156,869 positive COVID-19 cases, 1,332 deaths and 494,637 newly tested individuals in November. Those three numbers are monthly highs.

The previous high for COVID-19 cases came in October, when the number increased by 60,932.

The previous high for reported deaths was 997 in April. That number dropped to 315 in July before escalating to 707 in October.

Testing has risen dramatically since the early days of the pandemic. The state reported 85,264 unique tested individuals in April. That number rose to 322,213 in October.

The rise in cases has fueled a rush of hospital admissions. Hospitalizations climbed to 1,799 in early April before dropping into triple digits in June, July, August in September. They’ve been on a steep rise ever since.

On Nov. 1, hospitalizations hit 1,759. On Sunday, they had reached a record 3,401. Over that time span, the state’s hospitals have seen COVID-19 patients go from occupying 22.9% of their intensive care unit beds to occupying 44.7%.

From Nov. 1 to Monday, the state’s cumulative positivity rate for unique individuals has risen from 10.6% to 15.4%.

School data

The Indiana State Department of Health on Monday reported the latest figures related to schools. The results are updated weekly.

The latest figures showed a rise in student COVID-19 cases of 1,234, an increase of 311 teacher cases and a rise of 368 staff cases.

Cumulative case counts since the beginning of the school years rose to 11.677 students, 2,486 teachers and 2,899 staff members.

The state said 1,775 schools have reported one or more cases, while 205 have seen no cases. Another 386 schools have not reported data to the state.