Just more than two weeks after reaching 5,000 confirmed COVID-19 deaths, Indiana reported its 6,000th on Tuesday. The Indiana State Department of Health reported 6,109 Hoosiers are confirmed to have died from COVID-19.
State health officials say there are an additional 301 suspected COVID-19 deaths – where a test wasn’t administered but health care professionals believe the person had the virus.
Nearly 45 percent – 2,719 – of the state's total deaths occurred since the state moved to Stage 5 of its reopening plan. With Tuesday’s updates, Dec. 2 set a new grim record with 74 Hoosiers dying from COVID-19 on that day. April’s single day record was 50 deaths.
The rate of newly reported deaths has continued its exponential climb in the last several weeks. Indiana averaged 11 deaths per day in September, 24 in October, growing to 51 in November.
The state has averaged more than 60 deaths per day for the last two weeks.
Eight Indiana counties reported more than 40 deaths in the last 16 days – Marion, Allen, Elkhart, Lake, St. Joseph, Wayne and Vigo counties. Only five counties did not report a single death in that time span.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Indiana ranks ninth highest nationally for deaths per 100,000 residents in the last seven days.
ISDH has reported 511 deaths in just the last week.
Contact Lauren at lchapman@wfyi.org or follow her on Twitter at @laurenechapman_.
