INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana reported 7,793 new COVID-19 cases and 78 related deaths Saturday.
The Indiana State Department of Health confirmed a total of 375,019 positive coronavirus cases in the state, including 5,910 deaths.
In the last 24 hours, officials have conducted 61,590 tests, with a seven-day test positivity rate of 12.4%.
Indiana healthcare workers first up for COVID-19 vaccine
As Indiana announces its preparations to begin coronavirus vaccinations for some 400,000 healthcare workers by the end of the month, the inoculation timeline for the state’s nursing home residents is still to be determined. Chief medical officer for the Indiana State Department of Health Dr. Lindsay Weaver said during a webinar meeting Friday that anyone who provides care to patients or is exposed to infectious materials will be the first in the state to be offered the vaccine. But while healthcare workers within longterm care facilities are included in the earliest criteria, Weaver said the availability of the vaccine for residents of those facilities “will depend on what we have available.”
Nurses wanted: Swamped hospitals scramble for pandemic help
U.S. hospitals slammed with COVID-19 patients are trying to lure nurses and doctors out of retirement, recruiting students and new graduates who have yet to earn their licenses and offering eye-popping salaries in a desperate effort to ease staffing shortages.
The number of U.S. patients in the hospital with the virus has more than doubled over the past month to a record high of nearly 100,000, pushing medical centers and health care workers to the breaking point.
Indiana leaders pin slowing COVID-19 spread to vaccine
Indiana faces a longer stretch of COVID-19 illnesses and deaths while the governor and top state health official are pinning improvement on personal responsibility and the looming first arrival of vaccines rather than reinstating more statewide precautions.
Nearly all of Indiana remained in the greatest-risk categories for coronavirus spread in the state health department’s Wednesday update that also showed a new high for average daily COVID-19 deaths for the state.
Gov. Eric Holcomb said the state is bracing for expected new infections linked to Thanksgiving gatherings. The state’s seven-day rolling average of COVID-19 deaths has now reached 60 per day.
Indiana COVID-19 hospitalizations set new peak over weekend
The number of COVID-19 deaths in Indiana has nearly doubled for November from a month earlier as health officials continue adding to those reports and the state’s coronavirus-related hospitalizations remain at their highest point during the pandemic.
The Indiana State Department of Health added 142 deaths to the statewide toll with its daily update on Tuesday. Most of those deaths occurred over the past week. Those boost Indiana’s coronavirus deaths during November to at least 1,416 people, surpassing the previous monthly peak during April by nearly 400.
Gov. Eric Holcomb on Tuesday also signed an extension of the state’s public health emergency through Dec. 31.
Here’s where to get tested for COVID-19 in the Chicago area
Tuesday Holcomb ended a quarantine that started two weeks ago after several members of his security detail were confirmed infected with the coronavirus.
His spokeswoman said Tuesday that he has resumed his normal schedule and not experienced any symptoms of the respiratory disease.
The governor and first lady Janet Holcomb both tested negative for COVID-19 on Nov. 20. He also tested negative for COVID-19 in mid-October after State Health Commissioner Dr. Kristina Box announced she and some family members were infected.
ABC 7 Chicago contributed to this report.
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