The COVID-19 Community Task Force will meet Friday morning to discuss the local measures in place in response to the pandemic after Gov. Eric Holcomb announced plans to lift the statewide mask mandate and remaining restrictions in two weeks.
In a Tuesday evening speech, Holcomb said the state’s steep declines in coronavirus hospitalization and deaths rates, along with the growing number of people fully vaccinated, justify the steps starting April 6.
Additionally, all Indiana residents age 16 and up will be eligible for vaccines on March 31, Holcomb said.
After April 6, decisions about venue capacity and social gatherings will be made by local officials. Customers in restaurants, bars and nightclubs will no longer be required by the state to be seated. Six feet of spacing between tables and other seating will still be recommended as is spacing between non-household parties.
However, Holcomb said local officials still have the authority to impose tougher restrictions in response to COVID-19 in their communities and that face mask use would still be required in K-12 schools for rest of this school year.
He urged residents to continue wearing masks in public and that bars and restaurants continue to space out their tables, according to wire reports.
Locally, Columbus Regional Health will continue to require masks at its facilities and that the governor’s announcement “doesn’t change anything we’re going to do as an organization,” said CRH spokeswoman Kelsey DeClue.
DeClue, who also is spokeswoman for the task force, said the community needs to be “very cautious” and that masking is “vitally important” because the state and country are nowhere close to herd immunity.
The task force, which was formed in February, includes representatives from Columbus Regional Health, the Columbus mayor’s office, Bartholomew County Health Department, Bartholomew County Emergency Management, Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. and Cummins Inc.
No decisions have been made by city or county officials, DeClue said.
“We need to be very, very cautious in whether or not the timing is right for our community and for the state in what we’re going to do moving forward,” DeClue said. “It would be our perspective that masking should still be required.”
Holcomb’s announcement came as the county health officials expect an increase in COVID-19 vaccine allotments.
The Bartholomew County Health Department’s allotment has increased to 900 doses per week, up from 700, said Amanda Organist, the department’s director of nursing.
CRH, which operates a vaccination clinic in Columbus, has not yet received projections of its future allotments but may see a "modest" increase in its allotment, though it likely won’t be a huge influx even as of right now, DeClue said.
CRH has been requesting more doses from state health officials and is currently receiving between 1,700 to 2,000 doses per week.
Organist also is advising Bartholomew County residents under the age of 18 who sign up to get vaccinated make sure that they are scheduling their appointments at a vaccination site that has the Pfizer vaccine, as it is the only vaccine authorized in the U.S. for people age 16 and up.
The Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are authorized for people ages 18 and up.
The state’s online vaccination appointment registration portal, ourshot.in.gov, lists which vaccines are available at each site.
CRH is the only vaccination site in Bartholomew County that is currently offering the Pfizer vaccine, according to the state’s website.
As of Wednesday morning, 19,433 Bartholomew County residents have received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, or nearly 24% of the county’s population, according to the Indiana State Department of Health.
Additionally, 12,666 Bartholomew County residents fully vaccinated, or just over 15% of the county’s population.
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State health officials on Wednesday announced additional mass COVID-19 vaccination clinics at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway next month.
The clinics will be held from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on April 1 to 3, April 13 to 18 and April 24 to 30. Each clinic will have up to 6,000 per day of Johnson and Johnson’s one-dose vaccine.
Appointments can be scheduled at ourshot.in.gov.
Currently, Hoosiers age 40 and up, as well as healthcare workers, teachers and support staff and first responders, are eligible for COVID-19 vaccines.
Starting March 31, all Indiana residents age 16 and up will become eligible.
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