Indiana Code requires the physician last in attendance to certify the cause of death and submit to the local health department using the Indiana Death Registration System. Once received, the Incident Management Team (IMT) releases the information to local media outlets and the Team’s Facebook page.

A COVID-19 death is determined where the disease has caused or is assumed to have caused or contributed to the death. COVID-19 is reported on the death certificate for all decedents where the disease caused or is assumed to have caused or contributed to the death.

To best track the disease, the Indiana State Department of Health determines positive case locations and deaths in the county where the patient was residing when the positive test was performed or when the onset of symptoms presented. In this case, the state determined that the decedent was residing in Pulaski County when the positive test was performed.

The IMT statement goes on to read that “Pulaski County Health Department officials are disappointed that the Pulaski County Coroner felt the need to comment on the death publicly, as it was not a coroner’s case - and therefore (he) should not have had knowledge of the decedent’s health information.”

IMT communications director Brian Ledley reported in the statement that “the community should rest assured that the Pulaski County Health Department and Incident Management Team are coordinating closely with the Indiana State Department of Health to provide the public with accurate information relating to COVID-19 Test Results and related deaths.

Editor’s note: In the referenced Journal article, Coroner Jon Frain briefly elaborated, without specifics, on residence and treatment locations related to the county’s first COVID-19 death.