Hamilton County will test all county employees for #coronavirus antibodies next week as part of their annual wellness check.
ISDH Kris Box taking aim at coronavirus fallacies: it's not "a disease of old people." 31% of cases and 91% of deaths are over 60, but 1/3 of cases are under 40 and 1/3 between 40 and 60. "If you think this is over, it's not." The choices you make will affect others' health.
Box: still undetermined whether "the new normal" will allow for large events. (Some examples she didn't cite specifically: #Indy500, Indiana State Fair, the @Colts' season.)
IEDC head Jim Schellinger announces new $30M small business grant program (teased by OMB director Cris Johnston on Wednesday). The program will provide grants of up to $10K to businesses who can demonstrate losses of 40% or more due to the #pandemic.
Also announced: $10M program to stimulate manufacturers. $3M for startups, $4M for modernization or conversion to manufacturing #PPE, $3M for equipment.
Updated @Regenstrief numbers: 18% of confirmed cases end up in the hospital. 4% go to ICU. 3% die in the hospital (another 3% of confirmed cases die elsewhere).
Of patients who have been hospitalized, 72% have been discharged, 18% have died, 10% are still in the hospital.
Schellinger: IEDC will reevaluate program once the money runs out to see if it needs to be extended. The goal is to help small businesses handle their fixed costs like rent, as a bridge to get back on their feet.
.@SecretaryLawson says @MCCOindy request to extend deadline to receive mail-in ballots would be a bad idea, and won't help people who haven't gotten their ballots. But she encourages people who have their ballots to hand-deliver them well ahead of deadline.
Lawson cites higher number for #absenteeballot requests: 579K. She says most of those ballots have been delivered, and says it would be bad idea to change deadline for one county. She notes #earlyvoting, or election-day voting, is still an option.
1,867 total complaints about businesses defying executive orders; 90% found to be unfounded. Most complaints were during full lockdown phase. 25 verbal warnings and one cease-and-desist during Stage 2; 5 warnings in current phase, with 26 still to be investigated.
Holcomb on Minneapolis riots, and possible local protests: "Injuring the innocent in response to an injustice is counterproductive....It can be tough when you see injustice around you, I get it...but I ask you to [protest] peacefully."
Box on #coronavirus death toll: "One death is devastating. 2,000 is hard to describe."
"When people don't wear a mask when they go in a store, that's selfish behavior and I just don't understand it." You may be fine but you may be putting the person behind you at risk.
Box on spikes in cases in Elkhart and Muncie: Elkhart reflects increased testing, especially in minority community and working with some local industries. She says Muncie was a 1-day attention-getting spike, but declines to call either a "hotspot."
Holcomb: "We're not trying to be draconian here just to say we're in charge. This is about passing along the best information we have access to so we can stay on top of this."
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Halls outside the Senate chamber where #abortion hearing is taking place are jammed with protesters. Chanting is audible in chamber.
Sen. Sue Glick (R-LaGrange) predicts amendments and discussion of possible criminal penalties. Abortion opponents have objected to the lack of enforcement provisions.
Testimony has begun. First witness is a woman raped twice as a teenager, urging legislators not to minimize the trauma accompanying sexual assault.
Nearly all of the 40 #INLegis Democrats are meeting with @VP at the Indiana State Library to discuss the #abortion bill. First Senate hearing is this afternoon.
.@VP Harris: #INLegis “on the front lines of one of the most critical issues in America today.”
Harris: Dobbs ruling “has already created a health care crisis in America….We are seeing many states attempting to criminalize heath care providers.”
2,839 new Indiana #coronavirus cases, with 9.4% of today's batch of tests positive. The 7-day positivity rate, which runs a week behind, continues a two-week plunge to 18.3%, still in @StateHealthIN's high-risk zone but lowest since Jan 3. Cases are down 60% from last week.
108 newly reported Indiana #coronavirus deaths, half from the last week but with five dating back to 2021. The death toll rises to 21,299. IDH has also identified one more presumptive #COVID19 death, for a total toll of 22,137.
Indiana #COVID19 hospitalizations drop below 2,000 for the first time since Nov 27 (and lowest since two days before that), at 1,932, down 104 from yesterday. Of those, 392 are in intensive care, 25 fewer than yesterday and fewest since Nov 21. The state has 300 open ICU beds.
All 92 counties are now rated red (high risk) on @StateHealthIN's weekly risk score.
16,502 new Indiana #coronavirus cases, 2nd-highest total ever, but 3rd week-over-week drop in 5 days.
24.3% of today's batch of tests were positive. The 7-day positivity rate, which runs a week behind, holds steady at a record 30%. It's the 1st time since Dec 26 it hasn't risen.
118 newly reported Indiana #COVID19 deaths, all but 13 in the last five days (but with one late report from 2021), push the death toll to 19,761. IDH has retracted three presumptive #COVID deaths, for a total toll of 20,500.
Debate begins in Indiana House on final vote on bill limiting employer #vaccinemandates.
House Majority Leader Matt Lehman: "This bill is not about the vaccine itself; it's about the people affected" by mandates. #INLegis
Lehman points to nurses who testified they fear getting fired for being unvaxed, after working for 9 months of pandemic before #vaccine became available.
Last week's #SCOTUS ruling means those nurses aren't affected by this bill; they're still required to get vaxed or get fired.
710 Hoosiers are in ICU with #COVID19, one fewer than yesterday and the fourth straight drop, but a jump in non-#COVID patients drops the number of open Indiana ICU beds to 218. Overall, 3,460 Hoosiers are hospitalized with COVID, 97 more than yesterday after a three-day decline.
12,126 new Indiana #coronavirus cases, with 25% of today's batch of tests coming back positive. The 7-day positivity rate, which runs a week behind, sets a 15th straight record at 30%.
77 newly reported Indiana #coronavirus deaths, all in the last week; this is the first @StateHealthIN report with no belated reports from 2021 (though there could be more later). The 2-year death toll rises to 19,643; counting presumptive #COVID19 deaths, the total is 20,385.