INDIANAPOLIS — Saturday's latest updates on the coronavirus pandemic, including the latest news on COVID-19 vaccinations and testing in Indiana. Registrations for the vaccine are now open for select groups through Indiana State Department of Health. This story will be updated over the course of the day with more news on the COVID-19 pandemic.
State reports 3,188 new cases, 50 additional deaths
The Indiana State Department of Health reported 3,188 new cases of COVID-19 Saturday.
Another 50 deaths that occurred between Dec. 7, 2020 and Friday were reported, bringing the state's confirmed total to 9,317. Another 375 probable deaths have been reported among patients who died with COVID-19 symptoms but no positive test on record.
With 2,890,956 unique individuals now tested in Indiana, 4.2 of every ten Hoosiers have been tested in less than year since the pandemic began.
The state also reported Saturday that more than 94,000 Hoosiers have been vaccinated as of Friday. Nearly 419,000 Indiana residents have received at least the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, or just more than 6 percent of the state's population.
Butler basketball back on court
Butler University basketball has resumed full team activities following a false positive test that came back Thursday.
The Bulldogs will play the University of Connecticut on the road Tuesday.
Butler and Seton Hall will work with the Big East Conference to make up their Friday, Jan. 22 game that was postponed after Thursday's initial positive test.
Indiana COVID-19 deaths and cases down since December peak
Indiana’s rates of COVID-19 deaths, hospitalizations and infection have reached their lowest levels in more than two months, and the governor is considering rolling back restrictions on crowd sizes.
The state health department’s daily update on Friday reported 49 more recent COVID-19 deaths, which pushed its pandemic death toll past 9,600. The seven-day rolling average of about 50 COVID-19 deaths, though, has declined by about 40% since its peak in early December.
Indiana’s daily average of newly confirmed COVID-19 cases has dropped during that time by about half, and its hospitalizations from the disease are down by nearly 40% from their peak after a steep surge that began in September.
Latest US, world numbers
There have been more than 24.82 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States as of 5:30 a.m. ET Saturday, according to Johns Hopkins University. There have been more than 414,100 deaths in the U.S.
Worldwide, there have been more than 98.23 million confirmed cases with more than 2.1 million deaths and 54.18 million recoveries.
The real number of people infected by the virus around the world is believed to be much higher — perhaps 10 times higher in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — given testing limitations and the many mild cases that have gone unreported or unrecognized.
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness like pneumonia, or death.
Mass vaccination clinic opens Monday in Fishers
The Fishers Health Department will open a mass vaccination clinic at a former Marsh grocery store Monday morning.
The clinic at 116th Street and Brooks School Road will be able to provide vaccines for more than 1,600 patients each day.
People eligible to receive the vaccine will need to pre-schedule an appointment and be free of COVID-19 symptoms to get their shot.
Biden's early approach to virus: Under promise, overdeliver
President Joe Biden pledged in his inaugural address to level with the American people — and the message from his first three days in office has been nothing if not grim and grimmer. He has painted a bleak picture of the country’s immediate future dealing with the coronavirus, warning Americans that it will take months, not weeks, to reorient a nation facing a historic convergence of crises.
The dire language is meant as a call to action, but it is also a deliberate effort to temper expectations. Allies also see the telltale signs of a proven political strategy: under promise and overdeliver.