With COVID-19 cases down and vaccinations on the rise, Governor Eric Holcomb is planning an announcement about Indiana’s path forward.
“I intend on, over the next week or two weeks, delivering a statewide address talking about where we were – this is over the last year – where we currently are, and where we’re going, and that will look at all of our policies. . . . We’ll look at our guidance. We’ll look at the CDC, how things have changed there, too,” Holcomb said during Wednesday’s press conference.
He said the new CDC guidelines allowing those who are fully vaccinated to forego mask wearing and social distancing for some private gatherings will factor into his decisions. The governor didn’t give any specifics as to when he’d lift the statewide mask order, but said he’d have more to say in the coming weeks.
“We’ll get there,” Holcomb said. “We look at our numbers. We look at all those things I said at the very outset, you know, hospitalization rates, death rates, our PPE, our staffing levels, our hospitalization rates. We look at how many people have been vaccinated, how many people are going to get their second-dose vaccination, how many people inside those co-morbidity groups. We’re just starting to get to them right now.”
Another concern is the arrival of coronavirus variants. State Health Commissioner Dr. Kris Box said 28 cases of the U.K. variant have been identified in Indiana, but there are probably many more infections that haven’t been picked up.
On top of that, Hoosiers in their 50s have been slower to sign up for the vaccine than older age groups. Holcomb urged them to step up. “If folks aren’t vaccinated, they can get it and spread it,” he said. “And so it just extends this, and we’re doing so good.”
Still, the governor said he’s optimistic with the data, noting that as more people get vaccinated, the variants have less space to “bump around in.”
