By Dan Spalding
InkFreeNews

WARSAW – Kosciusko County Health officials learned on Tuesday of the third death in the county due to COVID-19.

The death was announced Wednesday as part of the updates provided by the Kosciusko County Health Department’s reports to the media.

No details about the third death were released.

Meanwhile, the health department reported 25 new cases between noon, Monday, June 22, and noon Wednesday.

The total number of positive cases in the county is now 433.

The 25 new cases are part of a trend in the county that is seeing nearly 100 new cases a week.

“A lot of the positives have been younger individuals, which gives a better outcome because they are generally not as ill,” said Teresa Reed, the communicable disease nurse for Kosciusko County’s health department, who spoke at the weekly media briefing at Warsaw City Hall.

“I do want to reiterate to people not to under-estimate this virus. For some people, this virus is devastating and deadly,” she said.

She said the state is attempting to conduct more tests in nursing homes, which will likely increase the numbers.

In Indiana, 48 percent of deaths are from nursing homes, “but that is significantly less than a lot of states have experienced,” she said.

While the number of cases in the county – and in Elkhart County – continues to grow significantly, the number of new cases in Indiana continues to decline.

Elkhart County has seen more than 2,700 cases.

At the same time, southern and western states have seen significant spikes and the European Union is considering a travel ban from the United States as the world continues to grapple with the pandemic.

Chart provided by the Kosciusko County Department of Health.

Chart provided by the Indiana Department of Health.

Map provided by the Indiana Department of Health. Numbers reported locally in Kosciusko County do not match the one in this map because of a reporting lag.