Indiana health officials report 51 more coronavirus deaths

INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana health officials on Wednesday added 51 coronavirus deaths to the state’s death toll, raising it to 1,264 since the state’s first death was recorded about seven weeks ago.

Most of the newly reported COVID-19 deaths occurred Monday or Tuesday, but one dated to April 20, according to the Indiana State Department of Health.

Travel and business restrictions eased Monday across most of the state under a new order from Gov. Eric Holcomb. He has cited a stabilization in the number of coronavirus patients being treated in intensive care units and on ventilators for allowing gradual lifting of those restrictions.

The latest state statistics showed 525 COVID-19 patients were in the intensive care units of Indiana hospitals and that 41% of ICU beds remained available as of Tuesday. That’s 46 more coronavirus patients in those ICUs than on Monday, but 104 fewer than on April 23.

The state health department also has recorded 113 presumed deaths of people with COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus. Those are deaths that state officials said doctors blame on coronavirus infections without confirmation of the illness from test results.