By The Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana health officials reported 3,477 new coronavirus infections and 142 additional COVID-19 deaths Tuesday as the state began to see a slow increase of coronavirus-related hospitalizations following a previous series of spikes in December.

The newly recorded coronavirus deaths, of which more than 100 occurred since the start of the new year, raised Indiana’s toll to 8,663, including victims with both confirmed and presumed infections, according to the Indiana Department of Health’s daily update.

The state agency also reported that Indiana hospitals had 2,907 coronavirus patients as of Monday, 71 more than Sunday and the most since Dec. 29. The COVID-19 hospitalizations have declined about 16% since peaking Nov. 30 but remain more than three times higher than in September.

Of those being treated, 591 people are in intensive care, according to the state health department’s online dashboard.

The number of Indiana residents known to have had the coronavirus is now up to 533,083.

To date, 2,681,739 unique individuals have been tested in Indiana, up from 2,675,056 on Monday, the department said. A total of 5,845,344 tests, including repeat tests for unique individuals, have been reported to the state Department of Health since Feb. 26.