The Indiana State Department of Health on Monday said the number of positive cases for COVID-19 in the state has risen to 15,961, following the emergence of 949 more cases.
The increase in cases is the highest reported by the department in a daily report since the beginning of the pandemic and the third daily high in four days.
The state reported 617 new cases on Sunday, 715 on Saturday, 641 on Friday, 601 on Thursday, 341 on Wednesday and 411 on Tuesday.
The department said Cass County had the most new cases, with 439. The county, which is home to a Tyson pork-processing plant that has experienced a major outbreak of the virus, has now reported 1,025 cases, behind only Marion and Lake counties.
The state said Monday that the cumulative death toll in the state rose to 844, up from 813 the previous day—an increase of 31.
About 90% of the deaths involve those who are age 60 or older. About 71% of those who have died are older than 70.
The state reported that 84,476 people have been tested so far, up from 81,708 in Sunday’s report—an increase of 2,768 tests.
The ISDH said the test numbers reflect only those tests reported to the department and the numbers should not be characterized as a comprehensive total.
New positive cases, deaths and tests have occurred over a range of dates but were reported to the department in the previous day.
The department reported the state’s first case on March 6.
Marion County reported 4,926 cumulative cases—up from 4,796 the previous day, an increase of 130 cases.
The state reported 267 cumulative deaths in Marion County, up from 259 in Sunday’s report. The state said 22,945 people have been tested in the county.
As for surrounding counties, Hamilton had 720 positive cases; Johnson 538; Hendricks 643; Boone 183; Hancock 183; Madison 396; Morgan 132; and Shelby 184.
Every Indiana county has at least one case.
The department said 43.8% of the state’s intensive care unit beds were still available. About 17.6% are being used by COVID-19 patients.
The department also said 79% of the state’s ventilators were available. About 9% were being used for COVID-19 patients.
The health department is providing case updates daily at noon based on results received through 11:59 p.m. the previous day.
Health officials say Indiana has far more coronavirus cases—possibly thousands more—than those indicated by the number of tests.
As of Monday morning, 967,585 cases had been reported in the United States, with 54,938 deaths, according to a running tally maintained by health researchers at Johns Hopkins University & Medicine. More than 107,050 people have recovered.
More than 2.99 million cases have been reported globally, with 207,518 deaths. More than 876,043 people have recovered.