A view of Zimmer Biomet’s world headquarters in downtown Warsaw on Monday, April 6. InkFreeNews photo by Dan Spalding.

WARSAW – Kosciusko County’s biggest employer is shutting down almost all operations for two weeks.

Zimmer Biomet informed employees Wednesday, April 8, that the company will temporarily reduce operations in all North America plants for two weeks starting April 13.

Only critical lines will continue to run, the company said.

During this time, affected team members will be paid at 80% of their salary and will retain all unused PTO, according to Monica Kendrick, vice president of external communications for the company.

Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce executive director Rob Parker said the move underscores the severity of the circumstances surrounding the nearly-world-wide COVID-19 pandemic and its impact locally.

“They have to take care of their people first and they are doing that by still paying them, but this also shows how serious this virus is in our community,” Parker said.

Parker said he is appreciative that the shut down is set for only two weeks.

Kosciusko County recorded its first death on Wednesday. Sixteen people in the county have tested positive for the virus.