Indiana Records 11 More Coronavirus Deaths; Toll Nears 2,900

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana's coronavirus death toll is approaching 2,900 in little more than four months as state health officials on Saturday added 11 fatalities to the total.

The state health department also announced 934 additional confirmed COVID-19 infections, a day after the number of new cases topped 1,000 for the first time since the outbreak hit Indiana during March.

Gov. Eric Holcomb pointed to the renewed growth in coronavirus infections and hospitalizations in announcing a statewide face mask mandate that starts Monday.

Indiana hospitals had 824 coronavirus patients as of Friday in a slight drop from a day earlier. Indiana had seen a steady decline in hospitalizations since being over 1,400 a day through April into early May before a recent trend back upward.

The new deaths of people infected with COVID-19 push to 2,895 the state's total including confirmed and presumed cases.

The newly reported infections push Indiana's seven-day daily average of new cases to 843, which is the highest at any point during the pandemic and 140% higher than the level a month earlier.

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