By Dan Spalding
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — The Elkhart County Health Officer is urging school leaders to return to a stronger mask policy to slow the spread of the Delta variant.

The above map tracks the current positivity rate for all Indiana counties. Provided by the Indiana Department of Health.

Dr. Bethany Wait warned on Thursday, Aug. 19, of a “dramatic increase” in the number of hospitalizations and severe illness in the county associated with COVID-19.

She said Goshen Health and Elkhart General Hospital are not currently equipped to care for severely ill children with COVID-19.

“Please remember that we share two regional children’s hospitals with the surrounding counties and have limited bed capacities,” Wait said.

Elkhart County’s seven-day positivity rate was 8.9%. In comparison, Kosciusko County’s positivity rate stood at 6.3, according to the state dashboard Friday morning, Aug. 20.

Wait urged all eligible people to be vaccinated and for businesses to embrace safer practices.

“I strongly encourage businesses to consider the health and safety of their employees and encourage masking indoors to control the spread within their facilities,” she said.

In a one-day span beginning Tuesday, the state saw 3,713 new positive cases and 15 deaths. The current seven-day positivity rate is 10.5%, according to the Indiana Health Department’s Coronavirus dashboard.