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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana’s number of new confirmed coronavirus infections topped 1,000 for the first time in figures released Friday by the state health department.
Those 1,011 COVID-19 cases represent about 8% of all people testing positive for the virus among new tests recorded by the agency. The new cases push Indiana’s seven-day daily average of new confirmed cases to 830, which is the highest at any point of the pandemic.
State health officials have raised worries about Indiana’s number of confirmed infections rising sharply in the past month. They also acknowledge the increase comes with more people being tested than during Indiana’s previous case peak in late April when the positivity rate hit 20%.
The health department recorded four more deaths of people with COVID-19 infections, with those happening since Monday. Those fatalities raised the state’s coronavirus death toll to 2,884 since mid-March.
Gov. Eric Holcomb pointed to the renewed growth in coronavirus infections and hospitalizations in announcing a statewide face mask mandate starting Monday.
Indiana hospitals had 850 coronavirus patients as of Thursday. Indiana had seen a steady decline in hospitalizations since being over 1,400 a day through April into early May before the recent trend upward.
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