INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) said that 676 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 19,295 the total number of Indiana residents known to have the novel coronavirus following corrections to the previous day’s total.
While the number of cases of COVID-19 continues to increase, hospitals are reporting that intensive care beds and ventilator capacity remain steady. As of Saturday, 42.4 percent of ICU beds statewide were available, while 80.5 percent of ventilators were available.
A total of 1,115 Hoosiers have been confirmed to have died of COVID-19, an increase of 53 over the previous day. Another 114 probable deaths have been reported. Probable deaths are those for which a physician listed COVID-19 as a contributing cause based on X-rays, scans and other clinical symptoms but for which no positive test is on record. Deaths are reported based on when data are received by ISDH and occurred over multiple days.
To date, 104,141 tests have been reported to ISDH, up from 99,639 on Friday.
Marion County had the most new cases, at 234. Other counties with more than 10 new cases were Allen (17), Boone (11), Cass (10), Clark (12), Delaware (17), Floyd (19), Hamilton (11), Hendricks (46), Howard (10), Johnson (54), Lake (65) and Noble (13). The Lake County totals include results from East Chicago and Gary, which have their own health departments.
Bartholomew County is reporting 266 positive cases with 14 deaths, which is up by two deaths from Friday’s report.
The Bartholomew County Health Department has administered 2,063 tests with the 266 positive results and 1,430 negative test results. There are 365 tests pending, the health department reported.
Other counties reported:
- Shelby County: 218 positive cases, 12 deaths.
- Johnson County: 668 positive cases, 69 deaths.
- Brown County: 17 positive cases, one death.
- Jennings County: 81 positive cases, three deaths.
- Decatur County: 201 positive cases, 28 deaths.
- Jackson County: 163 positive cases, one death.
Visit the ISDH COVID-19 dashboard at www.coronavirus.in.gov for additional information.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”About testing” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Because of limited supplies of testing materials, Columbus Regional Hospital officials have said relatively healthy people with a low fever and cough and are not that sick will 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 COVID-19 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 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.
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.
[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”For more information” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
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
[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Where to learn more” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Visit the Community COVID-19 Task Force’s website at covid19communitytaskforce.org for local information.
[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Closings, cancellations” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
For closings and cancellations, visit therepublic.com or The Republic’s Facebook page.
[sc:pullout-text-end]
