Thread by @WIBC_EricBerman

For second week in a row, @GovHolcomb's weekly coronavirus briefing has been delayed. We're told it's once again a technical problem.

Two-minute warning; we'll be starting 13 minutes late.

Aaaaand two minutes proves to be optimistic as well.

Now a fresh two-minute warning. The video feed has been moved back to Facebook.

That would make us 30 minutes late if they hit it, if you're scoring at home.

We have liftoff.

Holcomb: "I realize you could probably have ordered a pizza and had it delivered by now."

Holcomb opens with school funding compromise with Bray (and Speaker Huston). He says he remains committed to funding schools at 100%. Delaying enrollment count to December, he says, will ensure that, and will give #INLegis chance to weigh in soon after.

Box: "I have concerns" about upward trend in hospitalizations, ICU count, and positivity rate. "Steps we take in the coming weeks are going to be critical to reversing these trends, especially as we get closer to Labor Day weekend."

Box: many cases have been linked to weddings, July 4 parties, and graduation parties. She's worried people will again blow off #socialdistancing at #LaborDay.

Box says she's getting lots of calls from parents angry their kids are being sent back to school with numbers rising -- and from parents angry about their kids having to learn online.

Box: ISDH wants to create dashboard of school #coronavirus cases, and believes it can navigate privacy laws -- but still needs school rosters to be able to do that. Working with IDOE to resolve.

ISDH now has #LongTermCare dashboard up and running, linked from main #COVID19 dashboard. It'll be updated weekly.

ISDH: Data on longterm care dashboard will lag one week behind, because department will need to verify and cross-check reports.

Some cases may be counted for more than one nursing home if patients move around, but aggregate total will count each case only once.

Box: one cluster of school cases was traced to a football team and cheerleaders holding a party to celebrate #schoolreopening.

Holcomb & Box say most businesses have followed social distancing/mask requirements -- and health inspectors have shut down some which didn't. They say #contacttracing shows what's driven the six-week surge in cases is private parties, weddings, etc where people let guard down.

DWD Commissioner Fred Payne: still sorting through how to implement President Trump's executive order on unemployment benefits.

Back to the #schoolfunding deal: Holcomb says delaying enrollment count to December gives schools some certainty for first semester, while buying time for #INLegis to discuss more fully in January (with more info as well on the state of the #pandemic).

Holcomb: we want kids in school, but we also want parents to be confident there are safe, 100% funded alternatives if it's not safe to return to classroom.

Box: testing numbers down today partly because of lag from the weekend, partly because drive-thru testing teams have been diverted to comprehensive testing at #longtermcare.

Lower testing means 11.6% of today's batch was positive, but Box notes positive tests come in faster; positivity rates tend to decline as more tests flow in. I spent an unconscionable amount of bandwidth on this yesterday:

https://twitter.com/WIBC_EricBerman/status/1293220339724496896

Box: Indiana has had 13 cases of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome, the #coronavirus-related illness that's struck some children who mostly don't get sick with typical virus symptoms (though she notes kids are NOT immune to the virus, just seemingly less susceptible).

Holcomb: the state is NOT discontinuing testing, knocking down report from NW Indiana local officials that state was going to hand it off to counties. Box: "It is critical, for us to control the spread of this disease, to understand who is infected and who is not."

There are 207 testing sites statewide; Box says three more will be added soon.

Box: ICU numbers are up, anecdotally, partly because patients have put off going to the hospital until they're *really* sick. But doctors have also learned more about effective treatments (remdesivir, dexamethasone, sleep positioning).

Box, for the second time in one of these briefings, knocks down the false but still-circulating claim that masks cause CO2 buildup.