Indiana reports 16 more coronavirus deaths, total now at 65

INDIANAPOLIS - Sixteen more people have died in Indiana from coronavirus-related illnesses, raising the state’s virus death toll to 65 as its confirmed cases surged by more than 400, state health officials said Wednesday.

Indiana’s number of confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, grew by 409, to 2,565, following corrections to the previous day’s total, the Indiana State Department of Health said.

The department noted that Indiana’s 16 additional deaths reported Wednesday had occurred over multiple days.

State Health Commissioner Dr. Kristina Box said Tuesday, when the state reported 14 additional deaths, that those deaths had occurred over the previous two weeks. The state health department only reports additional deaths once there is a confirmed positive test for COVID-19 in each case, she said.

Marion County, the home of Indianapolis, had 159 of the state’s new coronavirus cases reported Wednesday. Indianapolis and the seven counties surrounding it account for 63% of Indiana’s confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 1,117 cases alone in Marion County.

Wednesday’s state update shows that only nine of Indiana’s 92 counties have no coronavirus cases.

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.