While younger Hoosiers remain a tiny sliver of IN death toll, Holcomb says they're a growing % of positive cases; 21% of all cases are under 30, vs. 12% at start of the #pandemic. He says it could be gap in underlying conditions, or that younger Hoosiers are taking more risks.
Box: 16% of all cases have been hospitalized, a slight drop from last week. She calls declines in hospitalization encouraging.
Box says she's disturbed by people not wearing masks, or even actively seeking hair salons where masks aren't required. She reminds that 43% of cases have no symptoms, making them unwitting carriers. She notes it'd be a "heavy burden" to know you infected someone who later died.
.@LGSuzanneCrouch: New state rental assistance program will supply up to $500/mo for 4 months for people struggling to make rent due to #pandemic job loss.
Not just job loss; income loss would qualify (fewer hours, or pay cuts).
Indianapolis has its own rental assistance program, administered separately. Both are funded by #CARESAct.
Dress code continues to evolve. Holcomb has frequently favored suit jacket over T-shirt. Today: Next Level Indiana golf shirt.
Holcomb: despite economic stress, RV and boat sales booming, housing sales ahead of last year. "For a certain part of our society, things are still growing. But we've got to have the people." He says that means not only skilling up workforce, but keeping people healthy.
Box, who's adamantly declined to release nursing home #coronavirus data broken down by facility, notes the homes themselves must give you that data if you request it (if, for instance, you're trying to pick a facility for your parents).
Non-#coronavirus news: Holcomb says he'll probably decide on his pick for Secretary of Education before Election Day. (The post of Superintendent of Public Instruction has been abolished as an elective position, effective with the end of @suptdrmccormick's term in January.)
Holcomb with a flipside to Box's anecdote about people seeking no-mask businesses: he says he's heard from people who are seeking safe places to do business, and are more likely to return to a business if they have confidence that the place is safe -- masks, handwashing, etc.
FSSA medical director Dan Rusyniak: when a nursing home has a #coronavirus case, state gets daily data on progress of outbreak until they've gone 2 weeks without new cases. (ISDH updates aggregate longterm care data on its website weekly.)
Box: ISDH is partnering with researchers on study, soon to be on website when it's complete, quantifying the benefits of masks and handwashing.
Box: "There's a lot of real-life instances of communities which saw a rise in cases, required masks, and saw those numbers go down." St Joseph and LaGrange Counties have required masks in Indiana.
Box: sharp drop in tests returned yesterday (lowest in 10 days, 1,700 below 2nd-lowest) reflects one lab which didn't get its results in. Also suggests it reflects the weekend lag effect, but comparable numbers from last week were 2,000 tests higher.
Holcomb: moratorium on #evictions, currently set to expire July 1, will be extended through end of July.
While eviction moratorium is being extended, Holcomb says he's waiting on Utility Regulatory Commission guidance, expected by July 1, before deciding whether to extend similar moratorium on utility shutoffs.
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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.