The number of counties in orange in Indiana decreased in the past week; Kosciusko County is now yellow on the two-metric score map but continues to remain orange on the state’s advisory level map. Pictured above are the two-metric score maps from last week and this week.

By Liz Shepherd
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — Kosciusko County’s COVID-19 positivity rate is now “yellow” on Indiana Department of Health’s two-metric score map and continues to remain in the orange category for the advisory level map.

The county’s positivity rate is 8.5%, according to the state dashboard. This is a decrease from a 10.6% positivity rate reported last week.

The advisory level map for Kosciusko County remained orange.

The advisory level is used to establish guidelines for counties regarding restrictions on gatherings. Kosciusko County will continue following “orange” guidelines but could change to “yellow” next week if the county remains at a lower weekly two-metric score for two consecutive weeks.

IDH relies on a color-coded county map that measures percent positivity and new cases per 100,000 residents. The baseline for red is 15%.

Whitley County remains in the “red” category this week with a 17% positivity rate; this rate has increased since last week.

Marshall County is back in the “orange” category, with a 5% seven-day all tests positivity rate and 255 weekly cases per 100,000 residents. The county’s positivity rate falls into the “yellow” category and weekly cases fall into the “red” category, thus the “orange” categorization.

The color-coded county metrics map on the IDH website shows a majority of counties in the “orange” category. Color-coded county metrics are based on each county’s seven-day positivity rate and the number of newly reported weekly cases per 100,000 residents. Orange counties are categorized as such when they have a 10 to 14.9% seven-day positivity rate and/or 100 to 199 new weekly cases per 100,000 residents. Source: Indiana Department of Health

Kosciusko County also reported one new COVID-19 death, bringing the county’s total to 86. The county has 8,245 positive cases.

More than 1,100 people in Kosciusko County have been fully vaccinated for COVID-19.

An estimated 5,283 people in Kosciusko County have been administered their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. More than 166,000 Hoosiers are considered to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19.

Statewide, the IDH website shows the number of COVID-19 deaths in Indiana rose to 9,713, which is up from 9,613 reported on Monday, Feb. 1.

The total positive number of reported COVID-19 cases in Indiana is now at 631,331. More than 7,096,000 COVID-19 tests have been administered to Hoosiers.

Locally, Fulton County has 1,696 positive cases, Wabash County has 3,147 positive cases and Whitley County has 3,254 positive cases. Marshall County has 5,209 positive cases, Noble County has 4,876 positive cases and Elkhart County has 24,781.

In other northern Indiana counties, Lake County has 46,651 positive cases; Allen County has 33,947 positive cases; and St. Joseph County has 28,096 positive cases.

According to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, more than 447,000 people in the United States have died due to COVID-19.