A single-vehicle accident on I-65 in Jackson County Tuesday morning was fatal to a northern Indiana man.

The initial investigation by Indiana State Police indicated that at about 9 a.m., a car being driven by William A. Dudek, 61, of South Bend, was northbound at the 44-mile marker, and for an unknown reason veered off the right side of the expressway. The car then struck a guardrail, became airborne, and crossed all northbound lanes of I-65 before coming to rest in the median.

Dudek was extricated and transported to Schneck Medical Center where he succumbed to his injuries.

The northbound lanes of I-65 were closed for nearly two hours for crash investigation and cleanup.

For the second time in the last seven days, the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) announced on Tuesday that it had recorded a record high number of coronavirus-related deaths in the 24-hour period ending Monday at midnight.

Last week’s record was 143 daily fatalities, but Monday there were 164 Hoosiers deaths making it the worst day yet. Overall, 7,703 Indiana citizens have died from COVID.

ISDH documented a total of 4,028 new cases of coronavirus on Monday. The state has now confirmed that 500,282 Hoosiers have contracted the disease since the beginning of March.

The Columbus/Bartholomew County COVID-19 Community Task Force announced its latest Spread Metrics Report on Monday.

Although the per capita positive rate is still considered in the “Substantial Spread” category, the overall indicators show that the rate is decreasing.

Virus-related hospitalizations have remained steady at about 50 patients per day for the month of December.

View the complete local report on the task force website.

Our Hospice of South Central Indiana is launching “Transformers,” a new bereavement group for children and families. Officials say they chose the name in the hopes of encouraging children to see themselves as powerful people, capable of positive change.

The ZOOM meetings begin on January 14, from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., and continue monthly on the second Thursday.

Our Hospice President Laura Leonard said, “Children do experience grief differently than adults and it is important they have a safe space to be heard while working through their emotions and feelings. This group is open to any child, between the ages of 5 and 12, who has experienced the death of a person near to them whether they received hospice services or not.”

The Indiana State Department of Health  announced on Monday that there were 2,494 new positive tests for COVID-19 in its Sunday report. Overall, the state has verified that 496,306 Hoosiers have contracted the disease since early March.

ISDH also certified 43 more virus deaths for Sunday, upping the Indiana total to 7,539 residents who have died.

So far, Bartholomew County has had 5,298 cases, Jackson County confirms 3,677, Jennings County reports 1,667, and Johnson County has recorded 11,640 cases of COVID.