Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb gave his support Monday to the growing number of school districts across the state issuing mask mandates for students and staff as they try to head off more COVID-19 outbreaks.

On Aug. 4, Indianapolis-based Eskenazi Health experienced a ransomware attack, halting access to electronic medical records and requiring ambulances to bypass the city's safety net hospital.

From mid-April to July, Indiana averaged more than 600 new cases per day, but in the first half of August, it has averaged more than 2,000 new cases per day.

The agency started August with more than 17,000 pending appeals after peaking with nearly 22,000 such appeals in January. Only California, Texas and Virginia -- states with much larger populations -- had more unsettled cases.

In the last week, 1,452 new COVID-19 cases were recorded among K-12 students in the state -- four times more than the previous week, according to Monday's update posted on the Indiana Department of Health's coronavirus dashboard.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, visited Anderson Community Schools where she urged the use of masks inside schools and for school districts to implement vaccination mandates for educators.

The Indiana Department of Health reports more than 300 COVID-19 cases early in the school year. The state surpasses 3 million fully vaccinated, as new cases surpass 3,000 in a day for the first time since January. Gov. Eric Holcomb maintains that he will not reimpose restrictions.

Scott County School District 1 went virtual just one week into the new school year, citing an explosive outbreak of COVID-19 cases among students.

Indiana surpassed 3 million fully vaccinated Hoosiers Friday. The milestone comes as the state sees a slight uptick -- a little less than double -- in the weekly average of Hoosiers getting their initial shot.

Indiana is reporting more cases per day of COVID-19 than any time since January, when the state’s vaccine rollout began.