HANCOCK COUNTY — A second Hancock County resident has died from COVID-19.
Crystal Baker, office manager and preparedness coordinator for the Hancock County Health Department, told the Daily Reporter in an email Tuesday that the person was over the age of 60 and that it is not yet known whether the individual had underlying health conditions.
Older adults and those with underlying health conditions are believed to be at higher risk of getting very sick from COVID-19. The first COVID-19 death in Hancock County, reported on March 24, was a person older than 60 who had underlying health conditions.
The Indiana State Department of Health reported 26 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Hancock County on Tuesday morning, two fewer than the day before.
“The ISDH dashboard is going to ebb and flow each day based on duplicate cases and out-of-county changes,” Baker said in her email.
She added that the figure reported Monday should have stood at 24 rather than 28. Lab results from Monday indicate two additional cases for Tuesday’s total, but only one of those is a Hancock County resident, she continued, meaning Hancock County’s total actually stands at 25.
The state department of health recently started releasing age range and gender demographic information on the state’s positive COVID-19 cases and deaths from the virus. Hancock County has started releasing such information for its positive cases, but not for deaths.
According to the state department of health, more than 65% of Indiana’s 49 COVID-19 deaths were men.
Dr. Kristina Box, Indiana state health commissioner, addressed that disparity during a news conference on Monday, March 30.
“We believe that this really reflects the fact that men have higher percentages of cardiac disease, diabetes and are oftentimes a higher rate of smoking than women in the state of Indiana,” Box said.
The state’s positive cases reflect almost an even split between genders, with slightly more women than men. In Hancock County, however, more than 58% of cases are men.
Statewide, meanwhile, the number of confirmed cases surged Tuesday past 2,000, and the total of 49 deaths was 14 more than the day before, state health officials said.
Indiana’s number of confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, grew by 374, to 2,159, following corrections to the previous day’s total, the state health department said. A week ago, the state had 365 confirmed cases and 12 reported deaths from COVID-19.
Five of the state’s 14 new deaths involved Indianapolis residents and four others were from Lake County. In addition to the person dying in Hancock County, there was one death each reported from Elkhart, Decatur, Ripley and Warren counties.
Marion County, the home of Indianapolis, had 170 of the state’s 374 new coronavirus cases reported Tuesday. Indianapolis and the seven counties surrounding it — including Hancock — account for 68% of Indiana’s COVID-19 deaths and 63% of its confirmed cases.
Tuesday’s update on the pandemic in Indiana followed Monday’s announcement by state officials that Indiana hospitals have increased the state’s intensive care unit capacity by about one-third in the past few weeks in preparation for an expected surge in coronavirus-related illnesses.
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Indiana COVID-19 data as of 11:59 p.m. March 30
Total positive cases
- Hancock County: 25
- Indiana: 2,159
Total deaths
- Hancock County: 2
- Indiana: 49
Total tested in state: 13,373
Source: Indiana State Department of Health, Hancock County Health Department
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