Subscriber Benefit
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 Saturday said the number of positive cases for COVID-19 in the state has risen to 14,395, following the emergence of 715 more cases.
For the second straight day, the count was the highest number of new cases reported by the department in a daily report since the beginning of the pandemic.
The previous high was 641 on Friday.
The state reported 601 new cases on Thursday, 341 on Wednesday, 411 on Tuesday, 476 on Monday and 569 on Sunday.
The state said Saturday that the cumulative death toll in the state rose to 785, up from 741 the previous day—an increase of 44.
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.
The state reported that 79,744 people have been tested so far, up from 75,553 in Friday’s report—an increase of 4,191 tests. That’s the highest number of new tests reported in a daily report since April 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.
Marion County reported 4,727 cumulative cases—up from 4,537 the previous day, an increase of 190 cases.
The state reported 255 cumulative deaths in Marion County, up from 238 in Friday’s report. The state said 22,107 people have been tested in the county.
As for surrounding counties, Hamilton had 699 positive cases; Johnson 530; Hendricks 611; Boone 182; Hancock 177; Madison 395; Morgan 133; and Shelby 176.
Every Indiana county has at least one case.
The department said 44.6% of the state’s intensive care unit beds were still available. About 18% are being used by COVID-19 patients.
The department also said 78.7% of the state’s ventilators were available. About 10% 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 Saturday morning, 906,551 cases had been reported in the United States, with 52,063 deaths, according to a running tally maintained by health researchers at Johns Hopkins University & Medicine. More than 99,100 people have recovered.
More than 2.83 million cases have been reported globally, with 198,405 deaths. More than 802,700 people have recovered.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.
Let us go back to our lives.
Virus is going to virus. It must run its course and then burn out. Let the venerable stay home.
While no one wants to see the number of new cases increase, that number is really more dependent upon the number of people being tested than it is indicative of how widespread the virus is. To that point, studies around the country, we are finding out that conservatively there could be 10x more people that have the virus or more importantly, have HAD the virus, than what is reflected in the Tested Positive number the State posts everyday. This is important and actually good news, because it means that we have many more folks out there with anti-bodies needed for herd immunity to occur. We also know now that the disease spreads more readily in confined indoor spaces with multiple folks sharing close confines than it does outdoors. What I just described is the environment that most folks live in when they are “sheltering in place”, with their kids and other family members. My point is that despite our best efforts, this virus is going to spread whether we are home or at out in the workplace. Sweden and other countries recognized that social distancing and isolating the most vulnerable is a much better way to deal with this without wrecking the economy and all the certain unintended trappings of a depression. Accordingly, Sweden has smartly stayed open, with the operative word being smartly. It is time we do the same.
As the number of tests increase, of course the number of positive cases are going to increase too. Some of the reported deaths caused by COVID-19 may be inaccurate too (like how some states count presumptive deaths). We flattened the curve. Most healthcare systems are not overwhelmed… in fact quite the opposite.
Yes, these are scary and risky times. But, I wish Indiana would slowly to start to reopen with some safety measures (masks in public, limit large events, etc.). Continue to monitor the situation to see if changes should be made.