Indiana officials add 6 deaths to state's coronavirus toll

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Indiana health officials on Monday reported six coronavirus-related deaths across the state while COVID-19 hospitalizations have stabilized following a significant jump earlier in the summer.

The newly recorded deaths increase to 3,135 the number of people in Indiana who have died with confirmed or presumed coronavirus infections in the five months since the state's first fatality was reported in mid-March, according to the state health department. Four of the new deaths happened Sunday.

Indiana's seven-day average of newly confirmed COVID-19 infections has dipped slightly since hitting a pandemic peak a week ago, with the average at 863 on Sunday. That is more than double what the state was averaging in late June before it started rising again, prompting Gov. Eric Holcomb to halt further easing of business restrictions and issue a statewide face mask mandate.

State statistics show that Indiana hospitals were treating 900 patients with the COVID-19 respiratory disease on Sunday, down from about 1,000 two weeks ago. Indiana's COVID-19 hospitalizations have grown by more than 50% since late June.