Thread by @EricBermanIN

.@GovHolcomb's weekly #coronavirus briefing about to begin. He's expected to announce whether the final lifting of #coronavirus restrictions, currently set for Saturday, will happen on schedule, be pushed back, or be moved earlier (the last two phases were moved up a day or two).

Holcomb: "Indiana is largely holding steady" on key #coronavirus metrics, "but we have seen somewhat of an uptick in our daily positivity rate." Today was first day over 6% in more than two weeks; state hit >500 cases on back to back days last week.

BREAKING: Holcomb delays Saturday's final lifting of restrictions until July 18. "It's just fact that other states, the majority of them, have seen an increase, and we pay attention to what happens around us."

Holcomb calls July 18 date "Stage 4.5," not the Stage 5 lifting of all restrictions. "This virus is on the prowl, and it's moving, even within our state....We're living on virus time, so to speak."

Holcomb: outdoor transmission risk of virus up to 19x less than indoors. With that in mind, those fireworks shows which haven't been canceled already can go forward, but people should still practice #socialdistancing.

Capacity limits on bars, clubs, casinos, theaters, restaurants remain unchanged. Same for 250-person cap on mass gatherings.

FSSA chief medical officer Dan Rusyniak: #longtermcare can resume in-house salon services (e.g., nails and hair). FSSA drafting plans to resume indoor visitation by mid-July. But he emphasizes risk of outbreaks from one carrier even greater in nursing homes than elsewhere.

Rusyniak: monthlong push to test all nursing home workers in IN tested 40K workers. (Others had been tested previously.) Now analyzing data to decide who needs to be tested in future and how often.

Rusyniak: Indiana will drop its longstanding resistance to breaking down #longtermcare #coronavirus data by facility. He says it'll take time to gather data and build the dashboard.

Rusyniak expects to release some preliminary data, with a full interactive dashboard to follow 2-4 weeks later.

Rusyniak: Our focus has been on responding to outbreaks, communicating with families of #LTC patients. But @AARP and associations representing nursing homes have expressed support for facility-specific data, so Indiana will change its position.

ISDH Commissioner Kris Box: #coronavirus hospitalizations cut in half since April peak, but have risen 12% since hitting three-month low 4 days ago.

Indiana is also mounting PSA campaign, resembling @SU2C, to prod Hoosiers to wear masks. Holcomb: "People say it's inconvenient. It may be inconvenient, but it saves lives." He's recommending masks "in the strongest terms possible."

107 cases (95 customers, 12 secondary contacts) have been linked to one Michigan bar which didn't take precautions. But Box notes there's counterexample of Missouri hair salon where a worker tested positive, but NO customers or co-workers caught it because all were wearing masks.

Box and Holcomb praise, and express support for, #ElkhartCounty officials for requiring masks. The county (and much smaller neighboring LaGrange, which also requires masks) has one of the worst current #coronavirus hotspots in the state.

Box: 3/4 of positive cases are responding to contact tracers; tracers are talking to 2,500 people a day. Local health departments are working to reach the other 1/4.

Box says she hopes people seeing what's happening in FL, TX, etc., will make #MaskUp mask awareness campaign more effective. She says it shows what could happen in IN if we're not careful.

Box emphasizes, as she and others regularly have, that masks are about protecting others.

Holcomb says he's seeing more people wearing masks than a month ago. "I hope people don't view it as inconvenient -- I hope they start to view it as cool. 'I'm protecting others.'"

Holcomb: "We're still in a good position." But numbers have been on an uptick the last week, after declining for the previous month.

Holcomb still "strongly recommending," not requiring masks. He says most people are doing it on their own. And he says state will support any local governments, like Elkhart County, who go further.

"That's not to say we won't be in a different position 8 weeks from now."

Box: "My concern [with requiring masks] is that sometimes mandating something makes people more stubborn....Hoosiers have always been about putting others first. This is something you can do in this #pandemic every single day."

Box notes businesses can mandate masks, just as they mandate shoes and shirts. Holcomb says statehouse will require masks for state employees.

[@MayorJohnDennis made many of the same points about WL deciding not to require masks: bit.ly/2VCBpVF]

Box: Summer carnival announced yesterday by midway operator for State Fairgrounds at end of August "is still under discussion."

Slight correction: summer carnival is actually announced to begin July 31, and run throughout August and into first week of September.

Holcomb and Box: Schools will still reopen as scheduled in July and August.

Box: 7 documented Indiana cases of MIS-C, the #coronavirus-related inflammatory illness identified as affecting children (who otherwise have largely been unaffected by the virus). 12 other cases have been investigated.

Holcomb: @IMS "has been extremely thoughtful, thorough & fan-centric" about safety issues, not just this yr but always. He says there's time before #Indy500 on Aug 23 to assess plan to allow fans, at half-capacity. He again notes outdoor spread isn't as much of concern as indoor.

Box says she'll have update next week on "summer carnival" announced yesterday, with talk scheduled before then with CEO of midway company which announced it.

Holcomb closes: "#MaskUp. It's cool."

Coupla post-briefing clarifications from gov's office: "Stage 4.5" begins Sat, w/outdoor events like fairs & youth camps allowed to open. But capacity limits now in effect at bars, clubs, etc remain in place at least 2 more wks. And hard-hit #ElkhartCounty remains at Stage 4.

Another post-briefing email update: The Department of Workforce Development says it suspects fraud in a surge of #unemployment claims and will be reviewing claims. The department says claims were up 28% last week, a jump it argues is inconsistent with better job numbers in May.