Indiana COVID-19 hospitalizations drop to lowest in 2 years

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Indiana's steep decline in serious COVID-19 illnesses over the past two months has pushed hospitalizations for the illness to the lowest level in the state since the first weeks of the pandemic.

The total COVID-19 patients at Indiana hospitals stood at 360 as of Tuesday, down about 90% from mid-January, according to state health department tracking.

Indiana's hospitalizations topped 1,500 people within weeks of the state's first confirmed COVID-19 infection in February 2020. Since then, hospitalizations hit peaks of about 3,400 in late 2020 and about 3,500 a little more than two months ago. Those hospitalizations were as low as about 400 last summer before a new surge brought on by the delta and omicron variants.

Indiana is now averaging about 10 COVID-19 deaths a day after the state saw a death rate topping 70 a day for much of January. The state health department has recorded more than 23,000 COVID-19 deaths over the past two years.

Some scientists worry that an extra-contagious version of the omicron variant may soon push cases up in the United States at a time when far fewer people are taking pandemic precautions such as wearing face masks.