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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndiana Gov. Eric Holcomb on Friday said he planned to extend the state’s stay-at-home order until May 1.
The existing order, enacted to slow the spread of COVID-19, is set to expire on Monday. Holcomb said he would issue the new order Monday.
Indiana has been under a stay-at-home order since March 25. The first order covered a two-week period and was extended another two weeks with a more restrictive order on April 6.
The existing stay-at-home directive limits business operations to only those deemed “essential,” such as hospitals, doctor’s offices, police stations and fire stations, and outlines rules for retailers “providing the necessities of life,” like grocery stores, gas stations and pharmacies.
During Friday’s daily press briefing, Holcomb said the new order coming on Monday is slightly shorter than two weeks to continue to allow state officials to be nimble and will adjust some guidelines.
“That’s not to say that we’re going to pull up immediately after that,” Holcomb said. “It just means it’s going to allow us to make some changes or some tweaks, some accommodations as we see appropriate around the state of Indiana.”
For example, one change that is expected to be made in Monday’s order is allowing hospitals to return to doing some elective and non-urgent surgeries. Holcomb had previously urged hospitals to delay all of those procedures to conserve resources for handling COVID-19 patients.
“We’re at a phase where we’re planning the safe reopening of sections of our economy,” Holcomb said.
Holcomb did not provide other specific changes that will be in the order.
But he did clarify that Indiana is not “anchored to” the same re-opening timeline as other Midwest states, despite the partnership with six other states that was announced Thursday.
“It just means we’re being good neighbors, and we’re going to share the information about where we are and how we’ll manage inside of our state,” Holcomb said.
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Let’s go, Gov. We’re ready. Let’s set the example for the protection of our high risk and elderly Hoosiers while jump-starting productivity and consumer local re-engagement. Hoosiers can beat this together with measured quarantine and economic revival. We can achieve both!
This is tough one and I 100% agree with the Governor. If you study the facts on https://www.coronavirus.in.gov/2393.htm, you’ll see Indiana’s cases are on a very steep upward trajectory with no data that illustrates an abatement any time soon. I have my own opinions on what the near future holds and it isn’t pretty.
A tough one indeed, counting the mounting economic losses but at what measure against human life?
One has to wonder about the correct count that relates to the Covid19 death rates…Skewed to say the least…especially when deaths from Pneumonia and flue have decreased to almost nil…Something is wrong with the count !
The hospital occupancy is way down which is the number thay tells you the deaths are going to slow. The fact that he is going to open back up to elective surgeries cements that fact.
Another overkill by this power hungry governor…To much and country needs to reopen now…Country is not sterile and never was and never will be…How about some original thinking and preparation rather that the group thinking of Illinois, Ohio , Ky etc etc…Herd mentality ran by wannabe Egoist,Tyrants, Scientist, Drs and no economist or Psychologist….Long term effects are devastating… The new norm will now be to shut down the country with every flu strain when no vaccine exist…..Sad ..So Sad !! Remember this is America !
Spot on you are!
Hmmm… Did you ever bother to go to the Indiana Department of Health website and look at some of the graphs? The number of new cases per day is still rising, but slowly at this point, but we are still getting 500+ new infections a day. The death rate is right at 1%, where the flu is at 0.1%. That means that 5 of those 500 people are going to die as opposed to the flu where on person in 1000 will die. Are you willing to risk your self or somebody in your family?
You can always get a new job. You can’t get a new life.
Here is the link: https://www.coronavirus.in.gov/
New cases gojng up, mean little if hospitalizations are down.
You think RINO Holcomb is going to put people in front of politics???
Clarence “Lumpy” Rutherford’s son will do no such thing unless someone hollers at him or something….lol Where’s Wally when you need him?
Right Lumpy Jr. loves the feel of the power like the rest of the power drunk Democrats!
He will never get my vote again!!!
How much worse does the economy have to get before we get our freedom back? At some point the cons of FAR OUTWEIGH the pros of keeping people “safe”.
I THINK WE HAVE REACHED THAT POINT!
I wonder what the addiction, depression and abuse rates are for keeping kids and adults locked up with little way to expend their pent up energies.
Oh come on! Be thankful you have shelter, food, security and rest time for awhile. Unless you were near economic hardship when this started, take this opportunity to look at life a little differently and appreciate how things were before! People can still go outside to get fresh air, surf the internet, read books etc. Don’t act like you’re in solitary confinement at the penitentiary!
You can always get a new job. You can’t get a new life.
You know the media is going to skew things to their point of view. They havent let a little think like truth enter what they say before. Why start now? If you research in statuistics, you will see how easy it is to report the results to support the result you are pushing on people. Youa r sopt on about the politics. But why do they want to continue ruingin the economy. They claim to be worried about people.
What about the mental health wards?
I can’t stay quiet any longer. Personally I like the governor and was hoping for leadership, but not seeing it here.
We were lead to believe a month ago this for the purpose of curve reduction- alleviating stress on the healthcare system, and I was 100% in support. Now he’s talking about opening hospitals for elective procedures, which strongly implies there is enough capacity, but keeping the rest of us on lockdown. Non-essential workers like landscapers and restaurant owners can’t earn money to pay their bills? Kids can’t play with their neighbors outside even though they’ve been on lockdown for a month and are extremely low risk.
Mid-March we didn’t understand much about the virus and we were all scared of the unknown, but we now know more about it and who is most impacted. Why can’t we keep them safe for another few weeks in quarantine and let the rest of us out of this lockdown.
Finally- my heart sincerely goes out to all the families impacted by this, and I’m sure not everyone would agree with how I feel above. But before you come after me or accuse me of not caring about life, ask yourself if the curve (capacity) is still the reason we are doing this, because it appears that isn’t the concern any longer if we are using hospitals for elective procedures now.
I am thankful Governor Holcomb is extending the shelter-in-place order. Yes it’s difficult and cumbersome. However, due to these initial actions Indiana is showing good results. It’s better to have extra caution. I feel badly for our entire state, but more so for the people touched by this virus.
Let’s also have compassion for the governor and his staff who must make these decisions. He is following what he believes is best for everyone in the state.
Restaurants will have a slow come back until people feel safe. However, I would think elective procedures would be last on gradual reopening.
I have a friend that is waiting on a hip replacement because it is elective. She has had months of pain, and is having to use a walker. It was point off because it is considered “elective”. Would you want be last on the list in that situation?
Those who want security at the cost of liberty will have neither. The # of cases is fairly meaningless, given that the great majority of the cases are mild to non-symptomatic. A positive test means that one has been in contact with the virus, as MOST of us have; it implies a “possible” immunity, but nothing more. For those wishing to indulge in social distancing, I suggest checking into an insane asylum and staying there so that the rest of us can go on with our lives.