Members of a local COVID-19 task force will meet this week to decide if the city and county will move at the same pace as the governor’s plan to reopen Indiana as several other states face surges in coronavirus infections and hospitalizations.
A sub-group of the COVID-19 Community Task Force will meet Wednesday to “discuss our thoughts about the direction of the city and county” as the state prepares to enter the fifth and final stage of Gov. Eric Holcomb’s Indiana Back on Track plan on Saturday, said Bartholomew County Health Officer Dr. Brian Niedbalski.
The task force, which was formed in February, includes representatives from Columbus Regional Health, the city of Columbus mayor’s office, Bartholomew County Health Department, Bartholomew County Emergency Management, Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. and Cummins, Inc.
“We will be meeting this week to discuss our thoughts about the direction of the city and county moving forward with the next phase,” Niedbalski said. “There is some concern due to what is happening in Florida, Texas and Arizona, but I’m afraid those states have likely done a poor job with physical distancing, wearing masks and avoiding larger gatherings.”
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“We will make our local decision at that time or the following day,” Niedbalski said.
Currently, Holcomb’s plan calls for lifting many of the remaining coronavirus-related restrictions starting Saturday after several weeks of gradually allowing restaurants and businesses to operate at larger capacities. Holcomb is expected to hold a press conference Wednesday afternoon.
The fifth phase of the plan would allow retail stores, restaurants, bars, nightclubs and malls to operate at full capacity. Restrictions would also be lifted at gyms and fitness facilities, and social gatherings of more than 250 people would be permitted as long as federal social distancing guidelines are followed.
But as state and local leaders weigh how to reopen communities across Indiana, a coronavirus resurgence is wiping out two months of progress in some parts of the U.S. and sending infections to dire new levels across the South and West, according to the The Associated Press.
In Texas, which began lifting its shutdowns on May 1, hospitalizations have doubled and new cases have tripled in two weeks, according to wire reports. Gov. Greg Abbott told KFDA-TV the state is facing a “massive outbreak” and might need new local restrictions to preserve hospital space.
The Houston area’s intensive care units are nearly full, and two public hospitals are running at capacity, Mayor Sylvester Turner said.
In Arizona, emergency rooms are seeing about 1,200 suspected COVID-19 patients a day, compared with around 500 a month ago, according to wire reports. If the trends continue, hospitals will probably exceed capacity within the next several weeks, Dr. Joseph Gerald, a University of Arizona public health policy professor, told the The Associated Press.
COVID-19 hospitalizations in Indiana, however, have steadily decreased over the past two months and stood at 626 on Sunday, down from 1,799 on April 13, according to state health officials.
Hospitalizations at CRH have followed the same general trend, and have been “very stable and declining in general,” Niedbalski said. So far, the peak number of hospitalizations at CRH has been 20 patients on April 25 and 26.
On Friday, there were two patients hospitalized at CRH with COVID-19, the hospital said.
A total of 44 Bartholomew County residents had died from the virus as of Monday, according to the Indiana State Department of Health.
Despite the decline in hospitalizations and deaths, Niedbalski said local residents should not let their guard down.
Even if businesses reopen at full capacity on Saturday, “there should be an understanding that things will be different than before the pandemic,” Niedbalski said.
“Wearing masks in public buildings and practicing social distancing are still of utmost importance,” he said.
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Visit the Community COVID-19 Task Force’s website at covid19communitytaskforce.org.
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