HANCOCK COUNTY — The county recorded two more COVID-19 deaths Thursday, raising the total to 16.
That total is up from the nine deaths Hancock County had as of Friday, May 1, according to the Indiana State Department of Health. The county has added at least one death from the novel coronavirus every day since then, except for Monday, May 4.
Demographic data from the state department of health indicates that the five Hancock County deaths reported since Monday, May 4, include two residents who were 80 or older, raising that total to 10; one who was between 70 and 79, raising that total to three; and the first two county residents to have died from COVID-19 between the ages of 60 and 69. The county also has a previously recorded death in the 50-59 age group.
One of Hancock County’s deaths recorded since Monday was a woman while four were men. The county’s gender demographics for COVID-19 fatalities are now evenly split at eight.
“It is mostly from an extended care facility,” said Craig Felty, vice president, chief nursing officer and chief operating officer of Hancock Regional Hospital, of the recent spike in deaths. He declined to disclose how many hospital patients who have died from COVID-19 were residents of the facility.
While Indiana releases statewide COVID-19 data concerning long-term care facilities, it does not require data to be released on a facility-by-facility basis. The Daily Reporter has been reaching out to long-term care facilities in Hancock County for a future story.
Dr. Kristina Box, Indiana state health commissioner, said during a media briefing on Thursday that the state will maintain its policy.
“We will continue to release aggregate data for nursing homes,” Box said.
As of Thursday, that data included 173 facilities with at least one positive case, 105 facilities with at least one death, 2,316 total positive cases in facilities and 420 deaths in facilities.
Felty also previously attributed spikes in positive COVID-19 cases in Hancock County to an outbreak at an extended care facility.
As of Thursday, Hancock Regional Hospital had two positive COVID-19 patients, both in stable condition, Felty said.
Hancock County’s trend of inching positive COVID-19 cases continued Thursday, with just five more added, resulting in a total of 241. The county also added 30 more tests for which results have been received, raising that total to 2,018.
Indiana on Thursday added more than 600 COVID-19 cases to its total, which now stands at 22,503. The latest cases were reported between April 28 and May 6. Another 31 fatalities between April 21 and May 6 raised the death toll to 1,295. Total tests stood at 124,782, a rise of almost 4,300 between April 8 and May 6.
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COVID-19 data
Hancock County
- 241 positive cases
- 16 deaths
- 2,018 tests
Indiana
- 22,503 positive cases
- 1,295 deaths
- 124,782 tests
Source: Indiana State Department of Health
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