Indiana reported 5,708 new coronavirus cases and 50 additional deaths Friday as the state continues to see increases in positivity.
The new cases follow days of record-setting numbers, with the most recent total topping 6,000 for the first time in the pandemic.
The state has now reported a total of 236,565 cases since the pandemic began, with a surge in recent weeks. The state has also reported 4,613 fatalities related to the coronavirus during the pandemic, with another 250 cases classified as “probable” COVID-19 fatalities.
Indiana’s positivity rate has still continued to climb, with the seven-day positivity rate on all tests currently sitting at 10.6%. When calculated by the percentage of individual residents who have tested positive, that rate jumped to 20.8% over the last seven days.
A total of 44,808 tests were administered in the last 24 hours, with 17,959 individuals tested during that time. Overall, the state has administered 3,414,373 during the pandemic so far.
Hospitalizations in the state have also continued to spike in recent weeks, but dropped slightly Friday to 2,548 after hitting a record high of 2,569 patients Thursday, according to the Indiana State Department of Health. Approximately 30.9% of the state’s intensive care unit beds are currently in use by coronavirus patients, while 7.7% of the state’s ventilators are in use by COVID-19 patients. Data showed 23.5% of ICU beds remain available.
Gov. Eric Holcomb on Wednesday announced plans to bring back some restrictions following several weeks of sharp increases in COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths.
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Holcomb said in a coronavirus update Wednesday that as the state's cases, positivity rate and hospitalizations rise, he plans to sign a new executive order Sunday that will bring back some requirements for residents and targeted restrictions for counties seeing large spikes.
"We are in the midst of a second surge," Holcomb said.
The new steps being imposed by Holcomb will limit crowd sizes in counties at the higher-risk levels of coronavirus spread and would cover 87 of the state’s 92 counties as of Wednesday’s update from the state health department.
The executive order starting this weekend will limit crowd sizes to 20 people in the highest-risk red counties and 50 people in the next-riskiest orange counties. The new order will also limit capacity at K-12 sports and extracurricular events.
Holcomb said he was also extending the statewide mask mandate for another month.
