By The Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS — Fourteen more Indiana residents have died from COVID-19, bringing the state's pandemic death toll to nearly 3,000 since its first death was recorded in mid-March, state health officials said Tuesday.

The 14 new fatalities from the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus raised Indiana's confirmed total deaths to 2,996, including confirmed and presumed cases, the Indiana State Department of Health said.

The state agency also reported a 836 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, boosting Indiana's confirmed cases to 69,255.

To date, 785,018 coronavirus test results have been reported to the state agency, and 8.8% have tested positive.

Gov. Eric Holcomb announced last week that Indiana will keep its current coronavirus restrictions in place for at least most of August to encourage compliance with safety measures. The Republican governor’s announcement came amid continued concerns about recent growth in the state’s COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.

Statewide limits including crowd sizes for restaurants, bars and public events would remain in effect until Aug. 27, Holcomb said on July 30. He had lifted Indianas 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.