CoronavirusIndianaLocalNews

Indiana to remain at Stage 4.5 in Back On Track plan through Sep. 25

Governor Eric J. Holcomb today announced the state will remain in Stage 4.5 of the Back On Track Indiana plan until Sep. 25.

Local governments may impose more restrictive guidelines.

Gov. Holcomb has used data to drive decisions since the state’s first case of the novel coronavirus in early March and he continues to do so. The state continues to monitor and respond to these four guiding principles:

  • The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients statewide has decreased for 14 days
  • The state retains its surge capacity for critical care beds and ventilators
  • The state retains its ability to test all Hoosiers who are COVID-19 symptomatic as well as health care workers, first responders, and frontline employees
  • Health officials have systems in place to contact all individuals who test positive for COVID-19 and expand contact tracing

The Indiana State Department of Health is updating its color-coded county positivity map to evaluate each county based on three metrics.

The tracker will score counties as blue, yellow, orange or red, more easily allowing local officials to determine the best course of action. A current map is available here. The map will go live on the dashboard next week and be updated weekly.

Scoring does not trigger a state requirement of any action, but provides local information and recommendations based on:

  • Number of new cases in the past week per 100,000 residents
  • Percent positivity as determined by the number of positive tests divided by the total number of tests administered
  • The change in percent positivity from the previous week

The new system is designed to help local and school officials understand and respond to the level of community spread in their county. The map will be available on the ISDH coronavirus dashboard.

Details and guidance will be updated at BackOnTrack.in.gov.

The Governor also signed an executive order extending the public health emergency an additional 30 days.

The executive order can be found here: https://www.in.gov/gov/2384.htm

Indiana’s mask order and capacity limits on bars and restaurants will continue at least another month.

Governor Holcomb says infection rates and hospitalizations have leveled off after surging through July and early August, but he says those numbers need to be not just flat but headed down. He says he understands Hoosiers’ frustration with the continuing restrictions, but says, “We have to deal with reality. He says flareups in different counties show how quickly the coronavirus takes advantage of opportunities, and how effective masks and other precautions are in bringing it under control.

The highest positivity averages in the state are in southwest Indiana. Daviess County, which had never had more than six cases in a day, has had 147 in the last two weeks in an outbreak which state health commissioner Kris Box says began in a church and spread to local businesses. Neighboring Martin County has the state’s highest positivity average, just two weeks after the sparsely populated county went 10 days without any new cases.

The percentage of virus tests statewide coming back positive climbed through July and early August before beginning to come down again the last two weeks, two weeks after the mask order took effect. Box says health officials in counties struggling to control new outbreaks have reported their residents have been resistant to the mask mandate.

Through September 26, restaurants will remain limited to three-quarters capacity, and bars and entertainment venues will be capped at half capacity, the same limits which have been in place since mid-June.

Holcomb says there’s no single statistic that will determine when it’s time to lift restrictions, though Box says she’d like to see positivity rates fall below five-percent — the statewide average is five-point-two-percent. But for the first time, the state is giving guidance to school districts in deciding whether it’s safe to stay open. It’s created a 0-to-3 scale based on a combination of the number of cases, the positivity rate and how that rate is changing.

Box says the weekly COVID scores are a response to requests from local officials. While scores of 1 or higher include recommendations for limiting or closing school activities, Box says they’re only steps to consider, not requirements.

Along with wearing masks, washing hands, and staying home if you’re sick, Box says bringing the virus under control needs a higher response rate to state and local contact tracers. She says the state will launch an ad campaign to stress the importance of answering those calls and texts.

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19 comments

David July 16, 2020 at 3:07 pm

Just let us get back to our lives. We don’t need talking heads telling us what to do. They are lying to us anyway. But the american people are a bunch of brain dead sheep who can’t think for themselves. Look how easy it was to take control of them.

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Niki Butler July 22, 2020 at 2:46 pm

Agree!

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Jim July 29, 2020 at 2:41 pm

Agree

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Lewis July 16, 2020 at 8:34 pm

The media is desperately trying to make things sound worse than they really are, in hopes of tanking the economy so that people “depend” on the Democrats in November. Although it won’t work, members of the swamp buy into and enforce this nonsense.

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Bryan July 29, 2020 at 2:48 pm

This I heard on the radio that an American dies every minute and a half what a bunch of bull

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Politicians know everything about everything and we are just stupid subjects... July 30, 2020 at 9:42 am

interesting how it is an immediate descision to require masks all the time and at the same time know that it will be OK in a month. These people (Holcomb especially) are insane with power. Nothing shows any of this has any merit but they tell you like they know. Holcomb would probably recite some gloom and doom numbers that we all know are so fake it boggles the mind that anyone would even read them.

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Daily Show Prep: Wednesday, July 29 - Casey Hendrickson - Radio Talk Show Host July 30, 2020 at 10:39 am

[…] Indiana to remain at Stage 4.5 in Back On Track plan through Aug. 27 […]

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David Warren July 30, 2020 at 5:12 pm

Put term limits on Congress n wage limits right along with the same heath insurance. we all live with then get rid of lobbing we all know it’s just another word for bribery

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Ruth August 26, 2020 at 2:48 pm

Disappointed in the governor for not moving us forward!! I know of too many false positives for us to remain in a state of fear! Let’s stop allowing the media to control how we live! As for science…it’s only as good as the data it’s being fed and we know that’s not always accurate!! 😔

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Robert Herron August 26, 2020 at 3:23 pm

As a medical professional I completely disagree with students removing their mask while in a classroom. This is ignorant because it says “if they can maintain a distance or 3-6 ft.” Since when is 3 ft considered safe, 6 ft isn’t safe. I happen to know for a fact and this will be made public within the next couple weeks that SarsCV2 aka Covid-19, aka coronavirus is an airborne Virus aka aerosolized which means no indoor place is safe. Picture a smoke filled Casino or bar and how all that smoke permeates the room and just lingers, an airborne virus is exactly like that. No child or no adult is safe in this environment without an N95 mask, period.

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Nathan Mansfield August 30, 2020 at 3:53 pm

You’re another parrot of the televivised talking heads of the government who never lies and never takes avantage of the citizens. Medical professional my @#%

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Joe August 27, 2020 at 8:51 am

Seriously thinking about voting you out next time around… Covid tyranny seems to be more of a threat than actual covid. Done with it AND you!

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4.5 for ever!! August 27, 2020 at 8:57 am

4.5 for ever!!! or at least until thousands more businesses fail. Makes perfect sense…if you are a moron or politician. (same thing)

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WAKE UP AMERICA!!!!!! August 27, 2020 at 9:05 am

Our children are going to “day care” and being “E” taught by everyone but teachers. 5-6 year olds expected to sit infront of a computer for hours. I guess if they go to school they will all die but day care is immune to the virus. Maybe we should all be in day care as that must be a perfectly safe place right???? Oh, my bad…Everywhere is a perfectly safe place. We are just treating people like 3rd world country citizens with no rights whatsoever. This will continue until elections are over. That may be never as Hilary “crooked” Clinton has already siad publicly Biden will contest the election for ever.

WAKE UP AMERICA!!!!!!

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Dan Garing August 27, 2020 at 10:08 am

in response to Robert Herron…That is the same crap the news tells us. Who in their right mind believes these ridiculous pointless masks keep airborne anything out? If you can breath in air the virus is getting in if it is “airborne” as you say. Stop with the rhetoric. This is simply your opinion and not a scientific fact.

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The touited N95 PPE is not available, effective, proven to work...So whats the point? August 27, 2020 at 10:20 am

From CDC webdite…
All FDA-cleared N95 respirators are labeled as “single-use,” disposable devices. If your respirator is damaged or soiled, or if breathing becomes difficult, you should remove the respirator, discard it properly, and replace it with a new one. To safely discard your N95 respirator, place it in a plastic bag and put it in the trash. Wash your hands after handling the used respirator.

N95 respirators are not designed for children or people with facial hair. Because a proper fit cannot be achieved on children and people with facial hair, the N95 respirator may not provide full protection.

N95 respirators are intended for use in a health care setting. Specifically, single-use, disposable respiratory protective devices used and worn by health care personnel during procedures to protect both the patient and health care personnel from the transfer of microorganisms, body fluids, and particulate material. These surgical N95 respirators are class II devices regulated by the FDA, under 21 CFR 878.4040, and CDC NIOSH under 42 CFR Part 84.

Even if they were effective (seriously doubt it) they are designed for a single use and for medical professionals. Back to the basement we go I guess.

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Chris August 27, 2020 at 12:03 pm

This is never going to end until we refuse being muzzled any longer! We were told flattening the curve was the goal now are standard is having to be headed down. BS! Let’s just keep making it up as we go. Enough is enough people. Show us the data Ms. Box that people resistant to wearing mask is causing spikes. You can’t because there is none! It’s antidotal at best and deliberately misleading at worst to continue control of everything we do. Here is from the Elkhart Truth just two days ago “The seven-day moving average of new COVID-19 infections in Elkhart County is at its lowest point since May 17.” May 17th people and there is not one word about lifting any restrictions. No, I have to continue to go in stores and be yelled at to put my muzzle on even though I’m not within 20 feet of anyone so I can buy what’s really going to keep me alive. FOOD!! Last I looked I lived in America where we are supposed to be free.

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MR. JIM LAHEY August 28, 2020 at 11:27 am

I THOUGHT THE METRIC (THE STUPIDEST WAY TO DECIDE WHEN TO FINISH THE LOCK DOWN) WAS THE RATE OF POSITIVES VS. TOTAL TESTS? THEY FOUND 2,000+ TESTS A WEEK OR SO AGO NOT COUNTED (OF COURSE THEY WERE ALL NEGATIVES AND WOULD HAVE REDUCED THAT NUMBER), AND IF YOU LOOK AT THE STATE’S CV WEBSITE IT HAS BEEN BELOW 7 FOR WEEKS. I DON’T KNOW IF THEY THINK WE’RE ALL GUPPIES OR HAVE THE MEMORY THEREOF, BUT THIS HAS TO BE ONE OF THE BIGGEST SCAMS IN THE LAST FEW YEARS (911/WMD’S WAS THE LAST ONE).

JUST SO EVERYONE KNOWS, IN NURSING HOMES WORKERS ARE BEING FORCED TO WEAR A SINGLE USE SURGICAL MASK FOR SEVERAL DAYS WITHOUT ANY KIND OF SANITATION. IF THEY HAVE ACTIVE VIRUSES IN THE FACILITY, THEN THEY GET AN N95 TO WEAR FOR A WEEK WITH NO SANITATION. WHERE IS OSHA? WHERE IS ISDH ON THIS FACT?!?!

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Slacker06 August 28, 2020 at 2:19 pm

More idiocy from a feckless governor. I strenuously object to being used as a political pawn in the governors re-election campaign. Since he is running against a doctor he thinks he heeds to project doctor like concern. I’ve been working for the 2020 Census. let me tell you that no one I encounter wears a mask. No one worries about 6 feet distancing. they are done with it all. All the concern will end on N0vember 4th no matter who wins the presidency. I will not vote for some basement stooge who promises more maskerade.

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