HANCOCK COUNTY — Positive COVID-19 cases in Hancock County bumped up against triple-digit territory by Wednesday, and the number of tests coming back continues to jump as well.
Hancock County had 99 recorded positive COVID-19 cases as of early Wednesday morning, April 8, according to data the Indiana State Department of Health released Wednesday. That represents a rise of 10 from the day before.
The state also recorded a total of 560 COVID-19 tests for Hancock County. That total reflects how many tests for which results have been received and does not include how many tests are outstanding.
The state started releasing county test totals on Friday, April 3. Hancock County’s total then was 212 tests since the start of the pandemic. In the five days since April 3, an additional nearly 350 tests have been recorded.
Dr. Sandra Aspy, Hancock County health officer, said she believes that spike represents a combination of more people getting tested and a backlog catching up. It can take days for the result of a test to be received.
“There are more places doing testing, and I think some of the backlog has been resolved,” Aspy said.
Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Company, for instance, started a COVID-19 testing program in March and has since expanded it, Aspy continued, adding she expects the current upward trend to continue.
Steve Long, CEO at Hancock Regional Hospital, said earlier this week that tests administered here are processed by a number of sources, including the state health department’s lab and private ones.
Aspy also urges people to continue practicing counter-coronavirus behavior like hand washing and social distancing.
“I know it gets harder and harder as the weather gets nicer, but I think it’s helping,” she said.
Statewide, positive cases rose to 5,943 by Wednesday, a boost of 436. Deaths increased by 30 for a total of 203, and another 2,105 tests brought that total to 30,869.
The new deaths reported Wednesday represented the second-largest tally of deaths the Indiana State Department of Health has reported to date in its daily pandemic updates, following the 34 deaths it reported Tuesday.
The department has said that the additional deaths it reports each day occurred over multiple days.
Marion County, the home of Indianapolis, again had the most new COVID-19 cases, at 151, raising its total to 2,290 — or about 39% of Indiana’s total. Northwestern Indiana’s Lake County had 43 new cases, and six other Indiana counties had more than 10 new confirmed cases.
Across the U.S., cases rose by more than 64,000 to 395,011 and deaths rose by 3,844 to 12,754.
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COVID-19 data as of April 7
Hancock County
- Positive cases: 99
- Deaths: 2
- Tests: 560
Indiana
- Positive cases: 5,943
- Deaths: 203
- Tests: 30,869
U.S.
- Positive cases: 374,329
- Deaths: 12,064
Sources: Indiana State Department of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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