Marion County COVID Cases Climb, Restrictions Unchanged
Marion County Public Health Department Director Dr. Virginia Caine says there has been a “significant and steady increase” in the number of positive cases of COVID-19 and hospital admissions. However, the city of Indianapolis will not be making changes to the city’s current orders.
Caine says the seven-day average positivity rate for Marion County is 5%, but hospitalizations are trending in the wrong direction.
“We are not going to move back just yet. We would like to monitor maybe one or two more weeks to get a feel for this a trend (to see if) that’s going to continue, albeit it’s slowly increasing, but we really are keeping our eye on it,” said Caine.
She says closing hours for restaurants and bars in Marion County will remain at midnight for now.
Three weeks ago, the administration eased restriction which allowed for more capacity at entertainment venues., but it kept an early closing in place.
“It’s a balancing act with trying to balance from an economic standpoint, our businesses versus significant risk to our community where we lose ground in terms of what we’re doing,” said Caine.
Caine says 69% of current COVID-19 cases are in adults, age 20-59. The administration believes some of the positive cases may not even be occurring in Marion County.
“Right now we’re trying to figure out where some of these new cases are coming from because the universities across the state of Indiana are doing a significant amount of testing,” said Paul Babcock, interim chief executive officer of Health & Hospital Corp. of Marion County. “From what we understand, students still list their home addresses as Marion County. In that case, it gets tracked back to here and so it was we’re trying to sort through that data.”
Caine says there is optimistic news coming from the public schools where the number of new cases of the disease has been minimal.
“I want to personally think, as a result, every teacher, every parent, every student, who are doing the work, of wearing masks, keeping distance, and practicing good hygiene. It’s paying off,” said Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett.
Meanwhile, while the city has not placed an outright ban on trick or treating, it is discouraging families from going door to door, avoiding Halloween parties, and forgoing a visit to haunted houses.
“I know that missing out on trick or treating and Halloween get-togethers is just another disappointment in a year full of disappointments, but please keep this in mind these are precautions that you can take to protect your health, the health of your family and the health of your neighbors,’ said Hogsett.
The city has not published trick-or-treating hours, but it has announced IMPD will schedule extra patrols and enforcement in neighborhoods from 6 p.m. to – 8 p.m. on October 31.
Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett said there’s been some good news in reporting data, but it’s still too early to get complacent.