A breakdown of Kosciusko County death statistics included information related to cause of death, manner of death, coroner cases and number of autopsies performed between 2017-2020.

By Lasca Randels
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — At the Kosciusko County Board of Health meeting held Monday, April 19, County Health Officer Dr. William Remington shared details on the county’s annual health ranking.

Kosciusko is ranked among the healthiest counties in Indiana, according to a study.

Information was gathered through the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps program, a collaboration between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.  

“Our county is ranked 20th in the state of Indiana, as per their ranking,” Remington said.

Kosciusko’s positives included a robust flu vaccination rate, social association and a low child poverty rate.

“Things they consider negatives, something to work on, would be adult smoking, adult obesity, uninsured and high school completion rate,” Remington said.

The current COVID-19 situation was also addressed during the meeting. Remington said 23 percent of Kosciusko residents age 16 and older are fully immunized and 31 percent of those age 16 and older have received their first dose.

Between natural infections and COVID-19 immunizations, Remington estimated that “probably half the adult population in the county has had one or the other.”

He also addressed the high number of new COVID cases in Michigan.

“I don’t know that anyone clearly has the bottom line as to why that’s occurring. I’ve heard the word ‘multifactorial’ a lot when I hear that situation discussed,” Remington said.

He said the potential of new COVID strains is unknown at this time.

In another matter, a breakdown of Kosciusko County death statistics put together by County Health Administrator Bob Weaver was shared with board members. This included information related to cause of death, manner of death, coroner cases and number of autopsies performed between 2017-2020.

There was no specific category for COVID-related deaths on the breakdown, and Remington said he was unsure what category the COVID deaths fall under. 

This led to a discussion regarding how COVID deaths are determined and who makes the designation. 

Remington said it comes down to who fills out the death certificate and whether COVID is listed as the primary cause of death or secondary.

To date, there have been 114 COVID-related deaths in Kosciusko County.

The next regular meeting will be 6 p.m. July 19.