The number of counties in orange in Indiana decreased in the past week; Kosciusko County continues to remain yellow on the two-metric score map and is now yellow on the state’s advisory level map. Pictured above are the two-metric score maps from last week and this week.

By Liz Shepherd
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — Kosciusko County’s COVID-19 positivity rate has fallen for two consecutive weeks, moving the county into the “yellow” category on the “advisory level” map used by the state health department.

The county’s positivity rate is 3.9%, according to the state dashboard. This is a decrease from an 8.5% positivity rate reported last week.

Advisory level refers to the current guidelines the county must follow regarding restrictions and gatherings. Kosciusko County has remained at a lower weekly two-metric score for two consecutive weeks, thus qualifying to move down to “yellow.”

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

Whitley County has moved into the “orange” category on the two-metric map with a 13% positivity rate; this rate has decreased since last week. However, Whitley County must still follow “red” guidelines.

Fulton, Marshall and Wabash Counties have also moved into the “yellow” categories on the two-metric score map. However, those three counties must continue to abide by “orange” guidelines, according to the advisory level map.

Under Gov. Eric Holcomb’s pandemic requirements, social gatherings of any kind in orange counties are limited to 50 people.

The color-coded county metrics map on the IDH website shows a majority of counties in the “yellow” 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. Yellow counties are categorized as such when they have a 5 to 9.9% seven-day positivity rate and/or 10 to 99 new weekly cases per 100,000 residents. Source: Indiana Department of Health

The state health department also recently added more than 1,500 confirmed COVID-19 deaths to the state’s count after a year-end audit of deaths. As a result of this audit, Kosciusko County’s death count is now at 103. In total, Whitley County is reporting 35 deaths; Fulton County is reporting 38 deaths; Wabash County is reporting 72 deaths; and Marshall County is reporting 101 deaths.

Kosciusko County has 8,375 positive cases.

More than 1,600 people in Kosciusko County have been fully vaccinated for COVID-19.

An estimated 6,819 people in Kosciusko County have been administered their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. More than 258,000 Hoosiers are considered to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19.

Statewide, the IDH website shows the number of COVID-19 deaths in Indiana rose to 11,578.

The total positive number of reported COVID-19 cases in Indiana is now at 643,305. More than 7,367,000 COVID-19 tests have been administered to Hoosiers.

Locally, Fulton County has 1,739 positive cases, Wabash County has 3,222 positive cases and Whitley County has 3,345 positive cases. Marshall County has 5,313 positive cases, Noble County has 4,962 positive cases and Elkhart County has 24,971.

In other northern Indiana counties, Lake County has 47,312 positive cases; Allen County has 34,674 positive cases; and St. Joseph County has 28,557 positive cases.

According to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, more than 468,000 people in the United States have died due to COVID-19.