The spread of coronavirus to Indiana has U.S. Representative Jackie Walorski trying to reassure her constituents. Walorski says she believes elected officials across all levels of government are working together to make sure the response is seamless.
“Indiana has a phenomenally-organized response to this,” she tells WKVI News. “We’ve got one of the best people at the helm, in Dr. [Kris] Box at the Indiana State Board of Health. I’ve been in several briefings in D.C. before I came back this weekend, and there’s just a number of great people in the line here to make sure that we’ve been fully prepared.” Walorski felt that the state’s first confirmed case of coronavirus was handled “incredibly well” and “completely by the book.”
Going forward, Walorski is confident that testing kits will be available to those who need them. “I think what we see now as we go forward, you’ll see a lot more testing kits available, you’ll see a lot more labs available to process those, and all of our hospitals up here in Northern Indiana in our district are fully functioning, ready to go,” she says. “I think you’ll just see the seamless operations continue as we proceed here through the next couple of weeks and couple of months.”
She says she’s been in touch with most of the public health officers in her district, and she’s willing to help them get any resources they may lack.
Governor Eric Holcomb declared a public health emergency Friday. Walorski notes that will make Indiana eligible for federal funding, if needed. “In that bill that we voted through this week, that $8.2 billion, a couple of the billion dollars in there are for states and local governments that have to expend any kind of resources,” Walorski explains. “So he needed to do that. I think that was smart on his part, so that we’re set up to received additional resources, should we need them.”
Walorski suggests that anyone concerned that they might have coronavirus should call their local health department. You can call the Starke County Health Department at 574-772-9137 or the Pulaski County Health Department at 574-946-6080.
