INDIANA, USA — This is a weekly blog with daily updates on COVID-19 numbers, COVID vaccine and other related content across Indiana for the week of March 8, 2021. Governor Eric Holcomb does a live briefing at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesdays.
Sunday, March 14
The Indiana State Department of Health reported 701 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday. The total number of Hoosiers who have contracted the novel coronavirus now stands at 672,554 positive cases, or roughly one in ten Indiana residents.
With ten additional deaths that occurred between Jan. 29 and Saturday, Indiana has now lost 12,446 people to the virus. The state reports another 410 probable deaths in patients who died with COVID-19 symptoms but no positive test on record when they died.
Saturday, March 13
The Indiana State Department of Health reported 878 new cases of COVID-19 Saturday.
With 27 additional deaths that occurred between Oct. 4, 2020 and Friday, Indiana has now recorded 12,436 deaths due to the virus. Another 410 probable deaths have been reported in patients who died with COVID-19 symptoms but had no positive test recorded.
To date, 3,177,730 unique individuals have been tested in Indiana.
As of Saturday, 1,256,381 first doses of vaccine have been administered in Indiana, and 816,080 individuals are fully vaccinated.
Friday, March 12
Indiana health officials are reporting 973 new cases of COVID-19 and an additional 28 deaths. So far, the state has recorded 671,023 positive cases and 12,409 virus-related deaths since the pandemic started March 2020.
More than 2 million Hoosiers have now received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Nearly 800,000 people in Indiana are now fully vaccinated, Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) reports.
This week, Indiana announced all state vaccine clinics will open to teachers and school staff on Monday, March 15.
Latest US, world numbers
There have been more than 29.28 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States as of 3:30 a.m. ET Friday, according to Johns Hopkins University. There have been more than 530,000 deaths in the U.S.
Worldwide, there have been more than 118.58 million confirmed cases with more than 2.63 million deaths and 67.14 million recoveries.
Thursday, March 11
The state is reporting 922 new cases of COVID-19 for a total of 670,074 confirmed cases.
There were also 32 additional deaths bringing the state death toll to 12,382 since the start of the pandemic.
In the last 24 hours, Indiana was able to fully vaccinate an additional 26,392 Hoosiers. The state reports 1,203,613 people have had a first dose of vaccine and 771,091 Hoosiers are fully vaccinated.
Wednesday, March 10
The state is reporting 863 new cases of COVID-19 for a total of 669,164 confirmed cases since the pandemic began.
There were also 16 additional deaths bringing the state death toll to 12,350.
Gov. Holcomb and state leaders provided an update on the vaccination effort and response to COVID-19.
The state has now surpassed the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases with the number of people who have been vaccinated.
More than a million Hoosiers have now received the vaccine. Vaccination rates:
- Age 80+: 72 percent
- Age 70-79: 73 percent
- Age 60-69: 60 percent
- Age 50-59: 37 percent
Even if you are vaccinated, the Indiana State Department of Health advises you still need to wear a mask when at church, the grocery store and other indoor places where you are around people that might not be vaccinated.
The state's positivity rate now stands at 3.1 percent. For the first time since July, there are fewer than 700 Hoosiers hospitalized due to COVID-19. There are 61 Indiana counties now in blue, and all the rest except one are in yellow. No counties are in red.
The state is advising long-term care centers to allow visitations of up to 8 hours during the week and then hours on the weekend.
The state will be extending eligibility to educators beginning on Monday. Those eligible include:
- Teachers and staff in pre-K through high school, childcare centers, Head Start and Early Start programs.
- Licensed childcare providers, including center-based and family care providers
- Classroom aides, bus drivers, janitors and counselors
- Administration staff, cafeteria workers, and substitute teachers
Tuesday, March 9
The Indiana State Department of Health reports 593 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 22 additional deaths. That brings Indiana to a total of 668,308 cases of the virus and 12,335 confirmed deaths. In addition, the state reports a total of 427 probable deaths — those most likely related to COVID-19 but without a positive result for the patient on record.
The seven-day positivity rate between Feb. 24 and March 2 dropped to 3.1 percent for all tests and 8.6 percent for unique individuals.
There were 628 COVID-19 patients hospitalized Monday — the lowest recorded since July 5, 2020.
Monday, March 8
Indiana health officials report 480 new cases of the virus, 5 new deaths. Since March 2020, 667,736 Hoosiers have tested positive for the virus and 12,315 Hoosiers have died from virus-related complications.
Hoosiers 55 and older can now register to get the COVID-19 vaccine. The state is also allowing patients identified as the highest risk for severe illness from COVID-19 by their health care provider. Those include:
- Active dialysis patients
- Sickle cell disease patients
- Down syndrome patients
- Post-solid organ transplant patients
- People who are actively in treatment (chemotherapy, radiation, surgery) for cancer or were in the last three months, or with active primary lung cancer or active hematologic cancers (lymphoma, leukemia and multiple myeloma)
Monday morning, the CDC said fully-vaccinated people can gather without masks.