Starke and Pulaski counties are now in the orange on the Indiana Department of Health’s COVID-19 County Metrics Map, while Marshall County is in the yellow. Starke County still has to follow red-level restrictions, though. That means social gatherings are limited to 25 people, and K-through-12 athletic events are restricted to participants, support personnel, and parents or guardians plus their minor children.
Marshall and Pulaski counties must follow orange-level restrictions. Gatherings and events there are limited to 50 people. School sports and other extracurricular activities may take place at 25-percent capacity.
However, those restrictions are expected to change next week.
Five Indiana counties are in the red category this week. Eight are in the yellow, while the rest are in orange.
In Wednesday’s update from the Indiana Department of Health, Marshall County had 19 new COVID-19 cases. Starke County had seven, and Pulaski County had one. Another 40 Hoosiers have died while positive for COVID-19, bringing the state’s total confirmed death count to 9,470. No new deaths were reported locally.
The spread of COVID-19 also appears to have slowed at local long-term care facilities. No new resident positive cases or deaths were reported in Marshall, Starke, or Pulaski counties. That’s according to Wednesday’s long-term care update, which covers cases up until January 20. However, three residents tested positive at Miller’s Merry Manor in Walkerton on January 18, and at least one more resident death was reported there.
Just over 23,000 resident positive cases have been reported in Indiana’s long-term care facilities since the pandemic began. More than 4,800 of those individuals have died, accounting for more than half of Indiana’s COVID-19 deaths.
