Here is a chart showing Kosciusko County’s COVID-19 cases by day since March 2020. Source: Indiana Department of Health

By Liz Shepherd
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — Compared to other areas in the state, Kosciusko County has not seen as drastic of an increase in COVID-19 cases.

According to Kosciusko County Health Department Communicable Disease Nurse Teresa Reed, there’s been an increase of COVID-19 cases since mid-July. She said Kosciusko County has not had a rocket-rise in cases that has happened in other areas.

Locally, on the Indiana Department of Health’s two-metric and advisory level COVID-19 maps, Fulton County is back in the “orange” category, with a 6.5% positivity rate. The county has reported 260 new weekly cases per 100,000 residents. Since its number of cases would categorize the county in the “red” category and the percentage would result in a “yellow” category, the two are averaged together, resulting in the “orange” category.

Wabash County is also now in the “orange” category on both maps, with an 8.5% positivity rate. The county has reported 390 new weekly cases per 100,000 residents. Similar to Fulton, the two categories are averaged, resulting in “orange.”

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 Health Department reported one new COVID-19 death. The death occurred on Tuesday, Aug. 17. Whitley County has reported 4,414 positive cases and 46 deaths.

Fulton County Health Department also recently reported one new COVID-19 death. The death occurred on Friday, Aug. 13. Fulton County has reported 2,211 positive cases and 47 deaths.

Kosciusko County has a high community transmission rate for COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The county has reported 10,055 COVID-19 cases and 124 deaths.

The CDC’s website categorizes transmission rates in four levels: low, moderate, substantial and high. The map shows that 91 of Indiana’s 92 counties are in the ‘high’ category. About 84% of the United States is marked in the ‘high’ category.

The CDC website is updated regularly and you can search for specific counties here.

More than 27,000 people in Kosciusko County have been fully vaccinated for COVID-19.

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 seven-day positivity rate between 10% and 14.9% and/or 100 to 199 new weekly cases per 100,000 residents. Source: Indiana Department of Health

More than 3,026,000 Hoosiers are considered to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19. According to statewide demographics, about 55% of those fully vaccinated are individuals who are 50 and older. About 53% of people fully vaccinated are female.

Statewide, the IDH website shows the number of COVID-19 deaths in Indiana rose to 13,768.

The total positive number of reported COVID-19 cases in Indiana is now at 809,545. More than 11,715,000 COVID-19 tests have been administered to Hoosiers.

Since the pandemic began, locally, Wabash County has reported 3,953 positive cases, Marshall County has 6,538 positive cases, Noble County has 6,293 positive cases, and Elkhart County has 30,451.

In other northern Indiana counties, Lake County has 58,383 positive cases; Allen County has 45,824 positive cases; and St. Joseph County has 38,231 positive cases.

According to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, more than 623,000 people in the United States have died due to COVID-19.

Vaccination Percentages by ZIP code

COVID-19 vaccination percentages by county ZIP code are available on the state’s management performance hub.

• 46508 (Burket) 50% of residents
• 46582 (Warsaw area) 48% of residents
• 46538 (Leesburg) 46% of residents
• 46567 (Syracuse) 44% of residents
• 46555 (North Webster) 43% of residents
• 46580 (Warsaw) 43% of residents
• 46506 (Bremen area) 41% of residents
• 46962 (North Manchester area) 40% of residents
• 46590 (Winona Lake) 38% of residents
• 46524 (Etna Green) 21% of residents