Indiana reports 13 more coronavirus deaths, total now at 78

INDIANAPOLIS - Thirteen more people have died in Indiana from coronavirus-related illnesses, raising the state’s virus death toll to 78 while its confirmed cases surged past 3,000, state health officials said Thursday.

Indiana’s number of confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, grew by 474, to 3,039 following corrections to the previous day’s total, the Indiana State Department of Health said.

The department has said that the additional deaths it reports each day occurred over multiple days. Those deaths are reported once there is a confirmed positive test for COVID-19 in each case.

Marion County, the home of Indianapolis, had 192 of the state’s 474 new coronavirus cases reported Thursday. Indianapolis and the seven counties surrounding it account for 45% of Indiana’s COVID-19 deaths and 62% of its confirmed cases. Marion County alone has had 24 COVID-19 deaths, or 31% of Indiana’s total, and 1,304 confirmed cases that account for 43% of the state’s total.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. Older adults and people with existing health problems are among those particularly susceptible to more severe illness, including pneumonia. The vast majority of people recover.