Officials at a Franklin senior care facility where a COVID-19 outbreak has occurred said Friday seven residents who tested positive for the virus have died, including three since its last update Monday.
All three residents who died this week—two men and a woman—were in their 80s, according to a news release from Otterbein Franklin SeniorLife Community. All three tested positive for the virus, but also had underlying health conditions, the news release said.
As of Friday, 26 residents and 19 employees tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, according to the news release. Two residents and one employee are hospitalized, the news release said.
To date, 55 residents and 88 employees have been tested. Four test results were pending Friday, according to the news release. More test results are expected in the coming days as employees have been incentivized to leverage the Eli Lilly testing program for health care workers, the news release said.
Three residents diagnosed with the disease have recovered, said Rob Newcomer, Otterbein Franklin’s executive director.
“As with every resident or caregiver, regardless of the cause, we mourn their passing, and on behalf of everyone at the Otterbein Franklin SeniorLife Community, we send our sincere condolences to family, friends and neighbors, and we grieve with them," Newcomer said.
"In spite of the passing of our beloved residents, I do have some good news to report. Preparations are underway to move three residents, who have recovered from the COVID-19 illness, off the isolation unit and back to their homes or other units on campus."
The outbreak originated last month when a therapist was admitted to the hospital and tested positive. Otterbein Franklin has more than 500 residents, 165 of whom are in the nursing home where the outbreak has occurred, and about 300 employees.
Local health officials on Friday said five more Johnson County residents died from coronavirus-related illnesses, the highest number of single-day deaths reported to date in the county. The county’s death toll is 16.
Confirmed cases climbed by 30, to 278, officials said. As of Friday, 1,461 Johnson County residents had been tested for the virus, according to the Indiana State Department of Health.
The Indiana State Department of Health on Friday said the number of presumptive positive cases for COVID-19 in the state has risen to 6,907 after the emergence of 556 more cases.
The increase halted a two-day slowdown in new reported cases. The state reported 408 new cases Thursday, 436 new cases on Wednesday and 563 new cases on Tuesday.
The department reported the state’s first case on March 6.
The death toll in the state rose to 300, up from 245 the previous day. The 55 deaths were the most reported to date in the health department’s daily updates, up from 42 on Thursday.
The department reported that 35,040 people have been tested so far, up from 32,133 in Thursday’s report. The ISDH said the test numbers reflect only those tests reported to the department and the numbers should not be characterized as a comprehensive total.
Indianapolis reported 2,600 cases—up from 2,415 cases the previous day—with 107 deaths. The state said 12,185 people have been tested in the city.
Counties in the Indianapolis area have reported at least 63 cases each.
Only two of Indiana’s 92 counties have not reported cases: Benton and Pike.
Health officials say Indiana has far more coronavirus cases—possibly thousands more—than those indicated by the number of tests.
As of Friday morning, 466,396 cases had been reported in the United States, with 16,703 deaths, according to a running tally maintained by health researchers at Johns Hopkins University & Medicine. More than 26,500 people have recovered.
Nearly 1.62 million cases have been reported globally, with 97,039 deaths. More than 365,100 people have recovered.
The Indianapolis Business Journal contributed to this report.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”By the numbers” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Here is a look at the latest numbers available:
Johnson County
COVID-19 deaths: 16
COVID-19 cases: 278
COVID-19 tests: 1,461
Otterbein deaths: 7
Otterbein cases: 45
Otterbein tests: 143
Indiana
COVID-19 deaths: 300
COVID-19 cases: 6,907
COVID-19 tests: 35,040
U.S.
COVID-19 deaths: 16,703
COVID-19 cases: 466,396
COVID-19 recoveries: 26,500
World
COVID-19 deaths: 97,039
COVID-19 cases: 1.6M
COVID-19 recoveries: 365,100
Sources: Johnson County Health Department, Indiana State Department of Health and Johns Hopkins University and Medicine
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