Three area deaths reported from COVID-19

Three more deaths were reported in area counties from COVID-19 yesterday, with only 31 deaths reported across the state in the newest update from the Indiana State Department of Health. Those deaths dated from Friday through Sunday.

Under those newly reported numbers, Shelby, Johnson and Decatur counties each had a single death from the disease. Bartholomew County had 55 new cases reported, Decatur 10, Jennings 19, Jackson 35, Brown 41, Johnson 110 and Shelby County 28.

Statewide there were 3,978 new cases reported with a 7-day positivity rate of 12.2 percent. That is the first time since the first week of November that the state has reported fewer than 4,000 new cases. The total since the pandemic began in Indiana is 468,219 cases, with 7,101 deaths and a total of nearly 5.3 million tests given.

Hospitals across the state say 75-percent of the ICU beds they’ve designated for the coronavirus are full.