By Liz Shepherd
InkFreeNews

The color-coded county metrics map on the IDH website shows all counties in the “blue” or “yellow” categories. 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 seven-day positivity rate between 5% and 9.9% and/or 10 to 99 new weekly cases per 100,000 residents. Source: Indiana Department of Health

WARSAW — According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 50% of American adults are now fully vaccinated for COVID-19.

In nine states, about 70% of adult residents have received their first COVID-19 vaccine shot.

Here locally, Kosciusko County has had 117 COVID-19 deaths and 9,546 positive cases.

Whitley County is now in the “blue” category on the Indiana Department of Health’s two-metric map, with a 4.5% positivity rate. If the county stays on this path for another week, Whitley can follow “blue” guidelines. However, the county must continue following “blue” guidelines for one more week.

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.

Marshall County Health Department recently reported one new COVID-19 death. The death occurred on Saturday, May 22. Marshall County has recorded 6,168 positive cases and 113 COVID-19 deaths.

Fulton County Health Department also recently reported one new COVID-19 death. The death occurred on Tuesday, May 25. Fulton County has recorded 1,975 positive cases and 41 COVID-19 deaths.

Whitley County Health Department recently reported one new COVID-19 death. The death occurred on Friday, May 21. Whitley County has recorded 4,024 positive cases and 40 COVID-19 deaths.

More than 22,200 people in Kosciusko County have been fully vaccinated for COVID-19. This is up from 21,500 reported last week. An estimated 22,954 people in Kosciusko County have been administered their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

More than 2,460,000 Hoosiers are considered to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19. According to statewide demographics, 54% of those fully vaccinated are individuals who are 55 and older. About 54% of people fully vaccinated are female.

Statewide, the IDH website shows the number of COVID-19 deaths in Indiana rose to 13,155.

The total positive number of reported COVID-19 cases in Indiana is now at 741,697. More than 10,366,000 COVID-19 tests have been administered to Hoosiers.

Locally, Wabash County has 3,578 positive cases, Noble County has 5,728 positive cases, and Elkhart County has 29,104.

In other northern Indiana counties, Lake County has 54,789 positive cases; Allen County has 41,275 positive cases; and St. Joseph County has 36,651 positive cases.

According to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, more than 591,000 people in the United States have died due to COVID-19.