Indiana sees 1,000-plus COVID-19 cases for 3rd straight day

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Thirteen more Indiana residents have died from COVID-19 and the state has recorded more than 1,000 new coronavirus cases for the third straight day, state health officials said Saturday.

The new deaths raise Indiana's pandemic toll to 3,036, including confirmed and presumed cases, the Indiana State Department of Health said.

The state agency reported 1,036 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, following the 1,253 new cases reported Friday and 1,051 new cases reported Thursday. The new cases reported Saturday bring the state's total number of confirmed cases to 73,287.

Gov. Eric Holcomb announced on July 29 that statewide limits including crowd sizes for restaurants, bars and public events would remain in effect until Aug. 27 to encourage compliance with safety measures amid continued concerns about recent growth in the state's COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.

The governor had lifted the state's stay-at-home order and began easing business restrictions in early May, but he's delayed the final lifting of crowd limits for the past month.

Indiana school district leaders, teachers and parents concerned about schools reopening for classes are pressuring state officials to identify benchmarks for what would require schools to go back online as confirmed cases of the virus increase. At least 31 positive cases of the coronavirus have been reported in Indiana schools since buildings began reopening in late July.