Indiana officials add 38 deaths to state's coronavirus toll

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Indiana health officials reported an additional 38 confirmed or presumed coronavirus-related deaths on Tuesday, raising the statewide death toll from the pandemic to 1,578 people.

The Indiana State Department of Health recorded 33 newly confirmed COVID-19 deaths that occurred between Wednesday and Monday, along with five additional death considered coronavirus-related by doctors but without confirmation of the illness from test results.

The latest state statistics list 1,444 confirmed COVID-19 deaths, along with 134 deaths with probable infections. Indiana's earliest recorded coronavirus death was less than two months ago on March 15.

The state's new centralized program for notifying those possibly exposed to coronavirus infections started Monday in 21 of Indiana's 92 counties, said Dr. Kristina Box, the state health commissioner.

Those contact tracing efforts are being taken over from county health departments with the state's $43 million contract with Virginia-based Maximus, which provides services for health care and other programs for many states and the federal government.

Box said Monday the company had already hired 325 people of a planned 500 for the contact tracing call center, with it taking over the work in more counties next week.