Officials in northwest Indiana are encouraging residents to abide by the state’s “stay-at-home” order after the elders of a Hammond church were issued citations after they decided to hold a public service over the weekend. NBC 5’s Lisa Chavarria has the story.

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb will extend the state's stay-at-home order through May 1, he announced Friday.

The order was previously in effect through April 20, though the governor had indicated plans to reopen in early May, saying Thursday that the next few days "are very important to us." He announced Friday that he will be extending the order two more weeks on Monday.

"We don't want to prematurely change what we're doing just to hope for a different result. It is working," Holcomb said.

Schools across the state were already closed for the remainder of the school year.

The state is also soliciting input from companies on how best to reopen. Feedback is due April 22, Holcomb said.

"We're now in the phase where we're planning on a safe reopening concerning different sectors of our economy," Holcomb said.

But that doesn't mean that May 1 will mean the state full reopens, he noted.

"That’s not to say we’re going to pull up immediately after that," Holcomb said. "It just means its going to allow us to make some changes or some tweaks or accommodations as we see appropriate."

Meanwhile, Indiana reported 642 new coronavirus cases Friday, health officials said, marking the second straight day of more than 600 new cases in the state.

The rise brings the state's total number of cases since the pandemic began to 10,154 with 519 deaths, 42 more fatalities than a day earlier.

The increase is nearly double the amount of new cases reported in the state earlier this week. On Tuesday, Indiana reported a rise of 311 cases and on Wednesday the number sat at 440.

The state marked a milestone over the weekend, as every county reported at least one positive case of the virus.

The area around Indianapolis has been the hardest hit by the virus, with Marion County reporting more cases than any other county statewide. Lake County in northwest Indiana has also been hit hard.