Indiana Reaches 350 Deaths From Coronavirus Outbreak

Updated April 13 at 5:05 p.m.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana’s actions aimed at stemming spread of the coronavirus have pushed back the expected peak of illnesses in the state and given hospitals more time to prepare, the state’s health commissioner said Monday.

The COVID-19 death toll for Indiana has reached at least 350 people as health officials on Monday reported seven additional deaths. The latest deaths added to the state’s tally occurred between Friday and Sunday but represent a slowdown in fatalities after Indiana recorded at least 17 daily deaths for 10 straight days through Thursday.

Previous projections had shown Indiana could be seeing a surge of illnesses as early as this week, but that is now expected in late April for the Indianapolis area and the first weeks of May for rest of the state, said Dr. Kristina Box, the state health commissioner.

“I really do believe that we have not seen the peak of that surge yet but I do believe it will be a lot lower, which is the result of all the very strict guidelines and requirements that we’ve had for social distancing in this state,” Box said.

The state’s largest concentration of COVID-19 deaths has been at a nursing home in Anderson. Twenty-two residents of the Bethany Pointe Health Campus have died, which is down from the 24 deaths reported by officials on Friday, said Dr. Daniel Rusyniak, the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration’s chief medical officer. He didn’t give any reasons the discrepancy during Monday’s briefing from the governor’s office and the agency didn’t immediately reply to a request for an explanation.

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Indiana’s death toll from the coronavirus has reached 350 people as state health officials on Monday reported seven additional deaths.

The latest deaths added to the state’s tally occurred between Friday and Sunday but represent a slowdown in fatalities since Indiana recorded at least 17 daily deaths for 10 straight days through Thursday.

Indiana’s first reported COVID-19 death occurred on March 16 and have mounted since then. Dr. Kristina Box, the state health commissioner, has said Indiana’s illness peak could continue into mid-May. Indiana’s coronavirus death total in less than a month is already more than the some 150 average flu deaths over a seven-month period.

The state health department also reported Monday that an additional 331 people had confirmed cases of COVID-19, increasing Indiana’s total cases to more than 8,200 in all 92 counties.

The Terre Haute Fire Department said one of its firefighters died Sunday from COVID-19 complications. John Schoffstall, 41, was an 11-year veteran of the department. Several fire engines escorted a hearse carrying his body from a Terre Haute hospital to a funeral home on Sunday.