HANCOCK COUNTY — The county recorded a new COVID-19 death on Wednesday and saw a metric used to gauge the virus’ community spread improve to a level it hasn’t seen since November.
The fatality, which raised the county’s total to 128, was a man age 80 or older who died on Feb. 15, according to information from the Indiana State Department of Health.
Hancock County’s two-metric weekly COVID-19 score was upgraded from orange to yellow, the second-least severe. Its advisory level remained orange, the second most severe, however. A county must remain at a lower score for two consecutive weeks to move down to a lower advisory level. Scores are based on weekly cases per 100,000 residents and seven-day positivity rates for all tests.
The county added 15 COVID-19 cases Wednesday, raising that total to 7,335.
Indiana added 20 deaths, raising its total to 11,825; and 933 cases, for a total of 651,453.
As of early Wednesday, almost 12,000 Hancock County residents had received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and more than 4,800 were fully vaccinated.
Meanwhile, as Indiana’s rates of new COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations and deaths continued a steep decline after peaking in early December, state health officials additionally lowered the risk level for COVID-19 spread in more counties.
The state Department of Health on Wednesday reported 933 new coronavirus infections, bringing the total number of Hoosiers known to have the virus up to 651,453.
Health officials also added 20 recent coronavirus deaths to the statewide total, pushing it to 12,250 fatalities including both confirmed and presumed COVID-19 infections.
The health department reported that 955 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 on Tuesday at Indiana’s hospitals. That marks the first time since Oct. 4 that fewer than 1,000 COVID-19 patients were recorded by the state.
The state Department of Health’s weekly tracking map updated Wednesday labels no counties in the highest-risk red category for the first time since late September. That is down from 73 of the 92 counties in that category last month.
This week’s map lists eight counties in the next-riskiest orange category, a drop from 40 one week earlier.
“Our color-coded county maps look the best that they have looked in months. This is all positive news,” said Dr. Kristina Box, the state health commissioner. “We continue to move in the right direction, but please, please continue to wear your masks, stay socially distanced and stay home when you’re sick and get tested.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
