The Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) Wednesday announced that 862 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 21,870 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 has increased, intensive care unit and ventilator capacity remains steady. As of Tuesday, about 41 percent of ICU beds and 79.4 percent of ventilators were available at hospitals throughout the state.
A total of 1,264 Hoosiers have been confirmed to have died of COVID-19, an increase of 51 over the previous day. Another 113 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, 120,496 tests have been reported to ISDH, up from 115,834 on Tuesday.
Marion County had the most new cases, at 315. Other counties with more than 10 new cases were Allen (23), Bartholomew (16), Cass (38), Elkhart (20), Hamilton (27), Hendricks (99), Johnson (16), Lake (72), LaPorte (17), Madison (10), Porter (10), Shelby (12), St. Joseph (28) and Vanderburgh (10). The Lake County totals include results from East Chicago and Gary, which have their own health departments.
To increase testing, 20 sites around the state opened today through a partnership with OptumServe. Symptomatic individuals can register online at https://lhi.care/covidtesting or by calling (888) 634-1123. Clinics run Monday-Friday, and an additional 30 testing sites will be announced by next week.
ISDH also will be offering additional drive-thru testing at St. Mark AME Zion Church, 4200 Alder Street, East Chicago, IN, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.