The Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) Saturday announced 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.
ISDH plans to offer drive-thru testing clinics Monday and Tuesday in East Chicago. The testing is open to symptomatic healthcare workers, first responders or essential workers, individuals who have symptoms and are in a high-risk category due to age, weight or underlying health conditions, and those who live in the same residence as one of the priority categories.
Testing will run from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. May 4 and May 5 at East Chicago Central High School, 1100 W. Columbus Drive, East Chicago. Participants should bring a driver’s license or other state-issued identification card. Tests will be conducted as long as supplies last and will be limited to one individual per vehicle.
Dates and locations of additional drive-thru clinics will be announced as they become available.
Visit the ISDH COVID-19 dashboard at www.coronavirus.in.gov for additional information on cases. The dashboard will be updated at noon daily. All cases are listed by county of residence.