By Liz Shepherd
InkFreeNews

The color-coded county metrics map on the IDH website shows all but seven counties in the “blue” or “yellow” categories. 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

WARSAW — In the past two weeks, Kosciusko County has reported two new COVID-19 deaths, bringing the county’s total to 115 deaths and 9,276 positive cases.

More than 16,400 people in Kosciusko County have been fully vaccinated for COVID-19. An estimated 21,191 people in Kosciusko County have been administered their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

More than 1,798,000 Hoosiers are considered to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19. According to statewide demographics, 66% of those fully vaccinated are individuals who are 55 and older. About 56% of people fully vaccinated are female.

Kosciusko County remains in the “yellow” category in both of the state’s COVID-19 maps.

According to the Indiana Department of Health dashboard, the county’s positivity rate is 4.2%. Kosciusko’s weekly COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents is at 114.

Fulton County is now in the “blue” category on the two-metric map, with a 4.3% positivity rate. However, the county must continue following “yellow” guidelines.

Elkhart and Whitley Counties are in the “orange” categories on the two-metric map, with 10.5% and 10.9% positivity rates, respectively.

Wabash County is now in the “blue” category on the advisory level map and can now follow “blue” guidelines.

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

The advisory level is used to establish guidelines for counties regarding restrictions on gatherings. Under Gov. Eric Holcomb’s pandemic requirements, social gatherings of any kind in orange counties are limited to 50 people.

Statewide, the IDH website shows the number of COVID-19 deaths in Indiana rose to 12,902.

The total positive number of reported COVID-19 cases in Indiana is now at 717,564. More than 9,711,000 COVID-19 tests have been administered to Hoosiers.

Locally, Fulton County has 1,933 positive cases, Wabash County has 3,503 positive cases, and Whitley County has 3,878 positive cases. Noble County has 5,503 positive cases, Marshall County has 5,885 positive cases, and Elkhart County has 27,865.

In other northern Indiana counties, Lake County has 52,570 positive cases; Allen County has 39,790 positive cases; and St. Joseph County has 34,824 positive cases.

According to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, more than 573,000 people in the United States have died due to COVID-19.