Indiana reports 17 more COVID-19 deaths, 855 new cases

Seventeen more Indiana residents have died from COVID-19 while another 855 Hoosiers — the largest number in recent weeks — have been diagnosed with the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus, state health officials said Saturday. Indianapolis Public Schools, meanwhile, became the latest Indiana school district to push back the start of the school year due to the state’s recent rise in coronavirus cases.

IPS — the state’s largest school district, with some 30,000 students — was supposed to start the year on Aug. 3 with in-person and virtual options for instruction. But the district’s commissioners voted during a Saturday board retreat to move the school year’s start to Aug. 17 at the recommendation of Superintendent Aleesia Johnson, The Indianapolis Star reported.“As I’ve acknowledged all along, this is a fluid situation and we will remain flexible,” Johnson said.

The Indiana State Department of Health said in Saturday’s update that the 17 newly reported deaths brings Indiana’s confirmed deaths from COVID-19 to 2,627. The state agency has also recorded 193 fatalities considered coronavirus-related by doctors but without confirmation of the illness from test results. Those deaths give Indiana 2,820 confirmed or presumed deaths from COVID-19.Indiana’s 855 newly diagnosed cases of COVID-19 brings the total number of Indiana residents known to have the illness to 55,654.

To date, 614,455 coronavirus test results have been reported to the state agency, and 9.1% have tested positive.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.

(Image Credit: AP)