More than 1,000 people have now died of coronavirus in Indiana
Shari Rudavsky
Indiana has passed the 1,000 mark for total deaths from the novel coronavirus, with 43 newly reported deaths Thursday. In all, 1,007 people have died from coronavirus with an additional 107 probable deaths. The state also reported an additional 669 cases in the past week, bringing Indiana to a total of 17,835 cases of coronavirus.
At Thursday's daily press briefing, Indiana State Health Commissioner Dr. Kris Box noted the unfortunate milestone in mortality.
"We've hit that 1,000 point, which is more than heartbreaking here in our state," she said.
Marion County, which saw its stay-at-home order extended another two weeks Thursday, also saw more than 200 new cases, more than it has seen in recent days.
Marion County has seen a total of 5,530 cases and 328 deaths. While other counties may see a lag in reporting of new cases, all of Marion County's new cases came from specimens collected in the past two days.
Just two hours before the state updated its numbers, Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett and Marion County Public Health Department Director Virginia Caine said that Indianapolis was not yet in the clear.
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Gov. Eric Holcomb has said he will announce changes to the state's stay-at-home order Friday but that the rules may be different for different regions of the state.
Lake County, which saw 60 new cases, now has 1,846 total cases and 83 deaths.
Some counties appear to be experiencing more recent outbreaks than others. Montgomery County, for instance, has a total of 67 cases, 27 of which were newly reported cases on Thursday.
Over the weekend, a cluster of cases was reported at a nursing home in the county. Nearly 60% of the cases, however, have occurred in people under age 60.
Cass County, where there has been an outbreak in a meat packing plant, saw 40 new cases for a total of 1,164 cases and two deaths. In Cass County, 60.5% of the people who have tested positive for the virus are Hispanic or Latino. About two-thirds are between the ages of 20 and 49.
Statewide about 44% of those who have tested positive fall into the 20 to 49 age range. Another third are 50 to 69 and about 20% are over the age of 70.
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While nearly three-quarters of those who have died in the state are over the age of 70, 0.3% of the deaths occurred in people under age 30 and 0.1% in children.
State officials have spoken repeatedly about wanting to see testing increase and Thursday they reported 3,475 new tests conducted, for a total of 94,998. Just under 19% of those who have been tested have been positive for the virus.
Contact IndyStar reporter Shari Rudavsky at 317-444-6354 or shari.rudavsky@indystar.com. Follow her on Facebook and on Twitter: @srudavsky.