A chart shows the number of statewide positive COVID-19 cases reported by day. Source: Indiana Department of Health

By Liz Shepherd
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — Since Nov. 18, Kosciusko County has reported six new COVID-19 deaths. This brings the county to 162 deaths and 13,763 positive cases, which is up from 13,346 reported on Nov. 18.

Wabash County recently reported one new COVID-19 death, which occurred on Sunday, Nov. 21. This brings the county to 108 deaths and 5,958 positive cases.

Whitley County also recently reported one new COVID-19 death, which occurred on Monday, Nov. 22. This brings the county to 60 deaths and 6,311 positive cases.

The number of COVID-19 cases in Indiana continues to rise, with anywhere from 1,800 to 4,000 new cases being reported daily.

Whitley and Wabash Counties have moved into the “red” category this week, with 17% and 20.6% positivity rates, respectively. Elkhart County also remains in the “red” category with a 17.1% positivity rate.

Kosciusko, Marshall and Fulton counties remain in the “orange” category.

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%.

Kosciusko County has a high community transmission rate for COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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

The CDC’s website categorizes transmission rates in four levels: low, moderate, substantial and high. The map shows that all of Indiana is in the ‘high’ category. About 73% 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 30,400 people in Kosciusko County have been fully vaccinated for COVID-19.

More than 3,422,000 Hoosiers are considered to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19. According to statewide demographics, about 52% 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 16,805.

The total positive number of reported COVID-19 cases in Indiana is now at 1,084,488. More than 15,276,000 COVID-19 tests have been administered to Hoosiers.

Since the pandemic began, locally, Fulton County has reported 3,522 positive cases, Marshall County has reported 8,792 positive cases, Noble County has reported 8,921 positive cases and Elkhart County has 39,011, which is up from 38,040 reported last week.

In other northern Indiana counties, Lake County has 70,517 positive cases, which is up from 69,297; Allen County has 64,347 positive cases, which is up from 62,318; and St. Joseph County has 48,135 positive cases, which is up from 47,021.

According to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, more than 774,000 people in the United States have died due to COVID-19.