State reports 350 COVID-19 deaths

Staff Reports

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) has announced that 331 additional Hoosiers have been diagnosed with COVID-19 through testing at ISDH, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and private laboratories.

That brings to 8,236 the total number of Indiana residents known to have the novel coronavirus following corrections to the previous day’s total.

A total of 350 Hoosiers have died to date. Deaths are reported based on when data are received by ISDH and occurred over multiple days. To date, 44,539 tests have been reported to ISDH, up from 42,489 on Sunday.

Bartholomew County is reporting 110 positive tests with four deaths. The Bartholomew County Health Department reported there have been 813 tests administered in the county, with the 110 positive tests and four deaths. There have been 536 negative results reported. There are 120 tests pending in the county.

The number of positives of Bartholomew County residents may include testing that was conducted out of county. Conversely, the number of total tests may also include submissions for non-Bartholomew County residents. The counts listed for positives and deaths is only for Bartholomew County residents.

Other surrounding counties data includes:

Decatur County: 129 positive cases, 10 deaths

Jennings County: 56 positive cases, 0 deaths

Shelby County: 75 positive cases, three deaths

Brown County: 12 positive cases, one death

Jackson County: 70 positive cases, 0 deaths

Marion County had the most new cases, at 129. Other counties with more than 10 new cases were Hamilton (11), Hendricks (16), Johnson (11) and Lake (54). The Lake County totals include results from East Chicago and Gary, which have their own health departments.

The complete list of counties with cases is included in the ISDH COVID-19 dashboard at coronavirus.in.gov.

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Federal officials are scrambling to broaden testing for the coronavirus after one of the government’s top health officials called the initial testing effort “a failing” and health care professionals, politicians and patients across the country complained about lack of access to testing, according to The Associated Press.

CRH officials have acknowledged that there is a “shortage of testing supplies” and said relatively healthy people with a low fever and cough and are not that sick would likely be advised to stay at home and not seek medical attention.

However, people with symptoms such as shortness of breath or risk factors such as being older than 60 and/or having a compromised immune system should seek medical care and let their physician decide if a test will help direct their care.

Anyone with concerns are urged to call the health system’s Triage Resource Call Center, a phone resource line launched by CRH last week to handle calls from residents with questions and concerns about exposure or symptoms associated with COVID-19.

The phone line is open daily from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and is staffed by registered nurses who will offer screening questions and potentially recommend a course of action for patients, said CRH spokeswoman Kelsey DeClue.

The phone resource line can be contacted at 812-379-4449.

Visit crh.org/news/2020/03/16/coronavirus-update-what-you-need-to-know for more information.

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Local residents with concerns are urged to call the health system’s Triage Resource Call Center, a phone resource line launched by CRH to handle calls from residents with questions and concerns about exposure or symptoms associated with COVID-19, CRH officials said.

The phone resource line can be contacted at 812-379-4449 available seven days a week, and is staffed by registered nurses who will offer screening questions and potentially recommend a course of action for patients.

Visit crh.org/news/2020/03/16/coronavirus-update-what-you-need-to-know for more information.

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For more information about COVID-19, including a list of frequently asked questions, visit in.gov/coronavirus.

Visit the Indiana State Department of Health in.gov/isdh/ or follow us on Twitter at @StateHealthIN and on Facebook at facebook.com/StateHealthIN

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For a list of closing and cancellations, see Page A3.

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Visit the Community COVID-19 Task Force’s website at covid19communitytaskforce.org for local information.

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