Kosciusko County Sees Five New COVID-19 Deaths
By Liz Shepherd
InkFreeNews
WARSAW — According to the Indiana Department of Health website, since Thursday, Dec. 3, Kosciusko County reported five new COVID-19 deaths, bringing the county’s total to 54. The county’s case number is now at 5,628.
Locally, while Kosciusko County remains in the orange category, two neighboring counties – Elkhart and Whitley – are in the “red” category in the method used by the state to track COVID-19 metrics.
The Indiana Department of Health relies on a color-coded county map that measures weekly cases per 100,000 residents and the seven-day positivity rate for all tests completed.
Elkhart and Whitley Counties have 19% and 24.1% positivity rates, respectively; both of these rates have increased since last week. Wabash County’s positivity rate decreased from 17.5% to 13% in the past seven days, changing the county’s color code from red to orange.
Kosciusko County’s positivity rate is 12.5%, according to the state dashboard. This is a slight increase from a 12.3% positivity rate reported last week.
The baseline for red is 15 percent.
Under Gov. Eric Holcomb’s pandemic requirements, social gatherings of any kind in red counties are limited to 25 people. A special, seasonal or commercial event for which more than 25 people will be in attendance must submit a plan to the local health department at least seven days in advance and receive approval before proceeding. College and professional sports are included.
The Marshall County Health Department recently reported two additional COVID-19 deaths, bringing the county’s total to 57. Both deaths occurred on Monday, Dec. 7. Marshall County has 3,729 positive cases.
Statewide, the IDH website shows the number of COVID-19 deaths in Indiana rose to 6,207.
The total positive number of COVID-19 cases in Indiana is now at 398,417. More than 4,706,000 COVID-19 tests have been administered to Hoosiers.
Locally, Fulton County has 1,076 positive cases, Whitley County has 1,851 positive cases and Wabash County has 2,160 positive cases. Noble County has 3,240 positive cases and Elkhart County has 19,910 positive cases.
In other northern Indiana counties, Lake County has 33,076 positive cases; Allen County has 22,738 positive cases; and St. Joseph County has 20,607 positive cases.
According to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, more than 5,786,000 people in the United States have recovered from COVID-19.