Indiana topped 8,000 new coronavirus cases for the first time during the state's pandemic, reporting 8,451 new infections in 24 hours Saturday along with 25 additional deaths.
The record-setting number comes just days after Gov. Eric Holcomb announced plans to bring back some restrictions following several weeks of sharp increases in COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths.
Saturday's daily case total marks the fourth daily record this week, topping Thursday's high of 6,654.
The state has now reported a total of 244,887 cases since the pandemic began, with a surge in new cases in recent weeks. The state has also reported 4,638 fatalities related to the coronavirus during the pandemic.
Indiana’s positivity rate has still continued to climb, with the seven-day positivity rate on all tests currently sitting at 10.9%. When calculated by the percentage of individual residents who have tested positive, that rate reached 21.5% over the last seven days.
A total of 68,685 tests were administered in the last 24 hours, with 25,969 individuals tested during that time. Overall, the state has administered 3,482,745 during the pandemic so far.
Hospitalizations in the state have also continued to spike in recent weeks, hitting another record high, as 2,160 patients are currently hospitalized with coronavirus or coronavirus-like illnesses, according to the Indiana State Department of Health.
Local
Approximately 44% of the state’s intensive care unit beds are currently in use by coronavirus patients, while 16.6% of the state’s ventilators are in use by COVID-19 patients -- nearly doubling from Thursday's metrics. Data showed 23.5% of ICU beds remain available.
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 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.
