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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowMarion County’s stay-at-home order will remain in place through at least May 15 even though a state plan would allow it to lessen restrictions May 11, Mayor Joe Hogsett said Wednesday.
Additionally, he said, churches in Marion County will not be allowed to reopen this weekend for in-person services.
On Friday, Gov. Eric Holcomb released a five-stage road map for reopening Indiana. Most of the state has already entered Stage 2, which allows social gatherings of 25 or fewer people and retailers and malls to open at 50% capacity. Stage 2 also allows churches to begin holding in-person worship beginning Friday.
Beginning May 11—the second week of phase 2—restaurants can open at 50% capacity, and salons and other personal care services may open by appointment-only.
Under the governor’s plan, Marion County could start Stage 2 on May 11, four days sooner than May 15, when Marion County’s current stay-at-home order expires.
Hogsett said while he appreciates the work Holcomb and his administration put in to launch the plan, it would be unsafe for Marion County to open May 11.
“Last week, Gov. Holcomb laid out a roadmap for reopening Indiana’s economy, and I am appreciative that the state’s approach allows Indiana cities and towns to adjust to the needs and data in their community,” Hogsett said in written comments. “Moving forward, the state’s roadmap will serve as a foundation for Marion County’s plans and ensure that, as we continue to receive community testing information and data from health care providers, we are able to determine a timeline for entering into future phases of reopening for our city.”
Current Marion County Public Health Department orders state that all non-essential businesses are to remain closed through May 15. Businesses with essential functions are permitted to remain open and their employees are permitted to continue traveling to work. When out in public, all Marion County residents are asked to wear a face mask or covering and maintain good hygiene, frequent handwashing and proper social distancing.
Marion County will adopt the Back on Track phasing when reopening begins, Hogsett said.
Until then, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department will educate residents on the restrictions and “aggressively enforce” restrictions on large gatherings if necessary.
Marion County Public Health Department director Dr. Virigina Caine said local data on COVID-19 will be analyzed throughout the weekend and additional guidance on the timing of future phases for reopening will be released soon.
“We are closely monitoring COVID-19 data each day to understand the impact this is having in Marion County,” Caine said in written comments. “While there is reason to be hopeful, we can’t relax quite yet. Everyone’s continued hard work and patience is needed to slow the spread of this virus even more, and help put our community on a positive path moving forward.”
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For every day hospitals are essentially closed to all but COVID-19 and emergency patients, it delays a cancer diagnosis, or treatments for diabetes and hypertension, each of which could result in an unnecessary death.
And for every day the forced shutdowns continue, more people lose their jobs and life savings, which not only has a devastating economic impact but human repercussions as well. Studies show that for every 1% increase in the unemployment rate, there is an 0.8% increase in the suicide rate. With the unemployment rate projected to be between 16%-20% for April, that means a projected 12% more suicides, resulting in thousands of needless deaths.
My neighbor has been on a waiting list for knee replacements since March 16th. He cannot walk and is now confined to a wheelchair. His doctor has told him they do not know when they can operate. There are several Seniors at my church who have not seen their Doctors since Mid-March. All of these older citizens have serious medical conditions, including COPD, Diabetes and Heart issues.
None of their Doctors treat Covid patients. There should have been some provisions to let these people in dire need of medical care to see their doctors.
Please, let’s vote him out.
Let the “at risk” folks stay home. Let those not at risk to get on with their lives.
Hey Mayor: The only large gatherings I see for you to break up are the “homeless” on our downtown streets.
This will be your legacy: businesses fail, poverty and homelessness increases. Nice leadership
Thank you Mayor Hodgsett for doing the RIGHT thing! Peoples lives matter more than a few replaceable businesses. Thank you for doing YOUR JOB and listening to SCIENCE!
The Peter Principle definitely applies to Joe. It appears he needs a refresher in basic math.
Clint F. How did you arrive at “thousands of needless deaths”? Do you have a base line as to the number of suicides one might normally find in Marion County durIng a given time period. In order to have a thousand needless deaths, my rusty math skills tell me that we would normally experience 8,333 suicides during the selected time period.
Yes, some more lives will be lost if businesses re-open earlier than some power-hungry politicians think is right, politicians who say “every life is priceless” and want to eliminate each and every potential death. In WW2, we had no choice but to fight Germany and Japan to save our country and we knew that lives would be lost, but it was the only right choice. Our country needs saving right now. Under Hogsett’s (and every Democrat/liberal) worldview, we should have let Hitler take over Europe because some people would die if we went to war. There is risk in everything in life. Hogsett and all the liberals, to be consistent with what they are saying now about COVID-19, should decree that all cars be made of rubber and go no more than 5 MPH, because “every life is priceless.” The economy needs to open now, not later.
Agreed
Agreed
And to those annoying people who want to claim ownership on SCIENCE – all you have to do is simply look at the numbers – its MATH.
Agreed.
It is irresponsible for the mayor to force select businesses, workers and the consumers they serve to remain isolated. Life if precious, but it is not governments role to determine how we live our lives.
The economic damage will last for years. Homelessness, deepening poverty and foreclosures will come quickly as our mayor “protects” us from ourselves.