Kosciusko County’s COVID-19 Metrics Improve
By Liz Shepherd
InkFreeNews
WARSAW — Kosciusko County may soon be able to follow “blue” COVID-19 guidelines again, as the county’s positivity rate and case numbers have decreased since last week.
On the Indiana Department of Health’s two-metric map, Kosciusko is back in the “blue” category with a 3.6% positivity rate. If the county stays on this path for another week, Kosciusko can follow “blue” guidelines. However, the county must continue following “yellow” guidelines for another week.
Kosciusko County has had 117 COVID-19 deaths and 9,426 positive cases.
Marshall County is now in the “orange” category, with a 5% positivity rate. Marshall’s weekly COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents is at 207.
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.
More than 19,600 people in Kosciusko County have been fully vaccinated for COVID-19. This is up from 17,800 reported last week. An estimated 21,962 people in Kosciusko County have been administered their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
More than 2,190,000 Hoosiers are considered to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19. According to statewide demographics, 58% of those fully vaccinated are individuals who are 55 and older. About 54% of people fully vaccinated are female.
Wabash County Health Department recently reported one new COVID-19 death, bringing the county’s total deaths to 80. Wabash County has 3,544 positive cases.
Statewide, the IDH website shows the number of COVID-19 deaths in Indiana rose to 13,028.
The total positive number of reported COVID-19 cases in Indiana is now at 731,810. More than 10 million COVID-19 tests have been administered to Hoosiers.
Locally, Fulton County has 1,954 positive cases and Whitley County has 3,967 positive cases. Noble County has 5,622 positive cases, Marshall County has 6,062 positive cases, and Elkhart County has 28,633.
In other northern Indiana counties, Lake County has 53,835 positive cases; Allen County has 40,734 positive cases; and St. Joseph County has 35,782 positive cases.
According to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, more than 582,000 people in the United States have died due to COVID-19.