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Indiana's top public health official suggested Friday that tens of thousands of Hoosiers already may be infected with the novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, even though her agency only has confirmed 12 cases statewide.

During a Statehouse interview, Dr. Kristina Box said she agreed with the Ohio health commissioner, who said Thursday up to 1% of Ohioans likely already have the virus, based on data of confirmed and presumed cases and knowledge of how the virus spread in other countries.

Box said: "We'd probably be close to that" in Indiana.

If accurate, 1% of Indiana's population of 6.7 million people means 67,000 Hoosiers already might have COVID-19.

At the same time, Box said state and county health officials so far have been able to trace back the initial infection point for the dozen ISDH-confirmed coronavirus cases, as well as follow where those people went, and who they might have infected, in Indiana.

Box expects the ability to trace every case no longer may be feasible if the number of confirmed cases grows significantly.

"As we begin to test more, I do believe that we will start to see that there is more here in the state of Indiana, just like other states are finding," Box said.