Indy will let bars and nightclubs reopen Tuesday, at 25% capacity (50% with outdoor seating).
Still table seating only, not bellying up to the bar. Tables of no more than 6.
.@IndyMayorJoe: @Marion_Health "will go full 'Footloose' if you try to operate as a dance club." Masks and social distancing must still be observed.
.@Marion_Health director Virginia Caine echoing @StateHealthIN commissioner Kristina Box from yesterday, forcefully pleading with people not to let guard down over #LaborDay: "I do NOT want to see another surge like we had after the #4thOfJuly."
Caine: Marion County positivity slowly but steadily declined through August, from 7% to 5.3%.
Caine: average cases per day started month at 150, with one-day spikes as high as 200. Down to 117 now, but it had been as low as 45 before post-Fourth of July surge. "We need your help desperately to follow the rules."
Caine: in last week, there's been increase in ER visits with #COVID19 symptoms. Now 22/day. But hospitalizations have declined to 14/day, which Caine attributes to Indy's #maskmandate, observance of #socialdistancing, increasing proportion of younger patients (60% under 40 now).
18% of new Marion County #coronavirus cases were under 20 in August, double the proportion just two months earlier.
Back to bar reopening: closing time is midnight. Bars which violate capacity limits or other rules 3 times will be shut down for at least a month. No live entertainment or dancing at nightclubs.
Caine notes Marion County thresholds for school reopenings remain in effect, and are different from new guidelines issued by @StateHealthIN #COVID score, which are just recommendations, not requirements. County thresholds ARE requirements.
Caine: fans and players for high school sports must follow mask and social distancing requirements even for out-of-county road games. She warns @Marion_Health can shut down sports programs which don't.
As previously announced, @MassAveIndy and @broadrippleindy Ave will reopen to traffic Tue. Hogsett says street closures can't be permanent because of @parkindy contract signed in Ballard admin, which runs thru 2060; city would owe "tens of millions" if meters were off limits.
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