Health Indiana coronavirus updates: Death toll passes 700 - IndyStar

Health

Indianapolis Star

Published 7:13 a.m. ET April 23, 2020 | Updated 3:31 p.m. ET April 23, 2020

Governor Eric Holcomb provides COVID-19 update on Wednesday, April 22, 2020.

Indianapolis Star

In what could be a correction for under-reporting earlier this week, Indiana announced 612 new coronavirus cases Thursday, bringing the state tally to 13,039. The state also reported an additional 45 deaths for a total of 706 deaths.

Earlier in the week, state health officials said that a reporting glitch had delayed reporting of cases in some instances. They also have said that they will start including deaths in the count, where COVID-19 was the presumed cause of death but there was no confirming test.

All but one of the 45 deaths reported Thursday occurred in the past eight days.

Marion and Lake Counties remain the counties with the highest number of cases as well as deaths. Marion County has seen 4,408 cases, of which 160 were newly reported, and 228 deaths. Lake County has had 1,346 cases, of which 55 were newly reported and 61 deaths.

Hamilton County had 645 cases and 42 deaths. Johnson County has one more death than Hamilton but fewer cases, 478.

Pike County is the only county in the state with a single case of coronavirus and no deaths. Ohio and Pulaski Counties have had three and four cases respectively with no deaths.

More than 43% of the 3,234 intensive care unit beds in the state are open, with 20% being used by patients with COVID-19, the disease the virus cases. About 10% of the state’s 3,203 ventilators are being used by patients with COVID-19 and 77% are available.

There were 2,594 new tests reported Thursday for a total of 72,040.

— Shari Rudavsky

Health What we learned Wednesday

An Indiana meat plant announced a temporary closure after 146 employees tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The Tyson Fresh Meats plant in Logansport usually produces 3 million pounds of pork per day, according to the company.

“The combination of worker absenteeism, COVID-19 cases and community concerns has resulted in a collective decision to close,” said Steve Stouffer, group president of Tyson Fresh Meats, the beef-and-pork subsidiary of Tyson Foods.

The Indiana coronavirus count rose by 31 deaths and 394 new cases Wednesday, according to the state’s dashboard. That brings the overall total to 661 deaths and 12,438 cases since the start of the outbreak in March.

For the second time this week state health officials warned that a technology issue has led to lower new case and new test counts then expected.

There were 2,291 new tests reported for a total of 69,470.

Health Headlines from across Indiana

State regulators are investigating the coronavirus-related deaths of two employees of the same Indianapolis nursing home.

What the governor and other officials said during Wednesday’s news conference.

A former Indiana pharmaceutical executive who was sentenced last year for conspiracy and adulterating drugs says he is at high risk of becoming severely ill or dying from the novel coronavirus and wants to be released from federal prison, according to court documents.

Colleges are getting millions to help students in need, but don’t know how to spend it.

Indianapolis’ stay-at-home order protest started with a father-son challenge.

The doctor slept in an RV. He ate on the porch. He saw his kids through the window.

Health News from across the country

The virus has killed more than 183,000 people globally. More than 2.6 million confirmed cases have been reported, including over 842,000 in the U.S., according to Johns Hopkins University data. There are over 46,000 deaths reported in the U.S.

The head of the United Nations World Food Program warned that the coronavirus pandemic could lead to a global food shortage creating a “hunger pandemic.” In U.S. communities where there are fewer grocery stores, finding healthy food has become difficult.

A Health and Human Services official helping to develop a coronavirus vaccine said Wednesday he was removed from his post because he questioned the value of drugs being pushed by President Donald Trump.

The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that a second wave of the coronavirus outbreak in the fall could be create more challenges than the current situation sweeping the nation because it would come at the opening of flu season.

Two pet cats in New York state have tested positive for the coronavirus, marking the first confirmed cases in companion animals in the U.S., federal officials said Wednesday.

—USA TODAY

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