The state health department reported a new record-high number of deaths just days after crossing the 7,000-death threshold.
Indiana is averaging more than 70 COVID-19 deaths a day, but the ISDH reported Tuesday 143 deaths that occurred between Nov. 10 and Dec. 21. This is most COVID-19 deaths reported in a single day, surpassing 142 deaths confirmed on Dec. 1. It is worth noting that while the ISDH reported all these new cases on a single day, they occurred over the span of nearly six weeks; the health department has retroactively published this data for the first time, though.
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These new deaths along with 3,758 new cases increased the state totals to 471,876 cases and 7,244 deaths. Across Indiana, people over 50 years old make up 97.4% of the state’s COVID-19 deaths but just 37% of positive cases.
COVID-19 hospitalizations also increased to 3,064 patients after dipping below the 3,000 mark late last week. The state has about 23% of ICU beds still available with COVID-19 patients occupying 30.3%.
Indiana has administered more than 5.3 million tests with a seven-day positivity rate of 12.2%.
In Monroe County, the ISDH documented 52 new cases and three new deaths, totaling 7,565 cases and 85 deaths countywide. But while cases and deaths continue to rise, Monroe County’s seven-day positivity rate has dropped to 5.8% after peaking at 11.3% on Nov. 29.
The county has administered more than 215,000 tests since the pandemic began.
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