Thread by @WIBC_EricBerman

.@IndyMayorJoe announcing some loosening of #coronavirus restrictions. The announcement comes two days after @GovHolcomb announced he'll lift most statewide restrictions tomorrow.

Hogsett: Indy will increase capacity limits starting Monday. Restaurants/bars/nightclubs can seat up to 50% indoors, full capacity outside. Museums, gyms and entertainment venues can open at 50%.

Live entertainment can resume, with #socialdistancing precautions in place, including 10-foot buffer between stage and audience.

Churches and funerals move to 75% capacity indoors (there's already no cap outdoors). Midnight closing for restaurants and bars remains in place.

Hogsett: Indy's population density means the approach in Marion County must be different from suburban and rural counties. Indy has as many people as all 8 neighboring counties combined.

Hogsett says no decision yet on trick-or-treating; city and @Marion_Health are analyzing CDC guidelines and hope to announce recommendations next week.

.@Marion_Health director Virginia Caine says Indy's precautions have saved lives.

Marion County positivity rate was over 20% in May. Caine says "we probably opened up too soon" after June decline, as positivity spiked back to 11% in July. Since September 7, it's been below 5%.

Marion County has cut positivity rate in half since @IndyMayorJoe issued #maskmandate July 2.

Caine: Indy averaging 85 #coronavirus cases a day, down from 150 last month. She says numbers and positivity rates need to stay low for at least two weeks to lift remaining restrictions.

Caine: reopening threshold is 35 cases a day for a week, and positivity under 5% for two weeks.

Caine: most common age of #COVID19 cases continues to get younger. Nearly half of cases are now 20-39; add kids and teenagers, and it's nearly 2/3 of cases. At start of pandemic, it was 1/4.

% of Marion County #COVID patients under 40, by month:

March 27%
Apr 30%
May 42%
Jun 52%
Jul 62%
Aug 61%
Sep 67%

Under 20:

Mar 1%
Apr 2%
May 5%
Jun 9%
Jul 12%
Aug 18%
Sep 23%

Caine: All elementary and middle schools can now hold class in person. High schools still must wait until county brings average caseload down to 35/day and holds it there for a week, with positivity rate under 5%.

Attendance at school sports events capped at 1,500 people or half capacity, whichever is less. 500 people for indoor events. (Those are just @IHSAA1 limits; @colts, @IndyEleven etc. are handled differently.)

#MaskUp order remains in place. Caine says @Marion_Health is still studying whether mask order should continue even after numbers decline enough for other limits to be lifted.

Off pandemic topic: Hogsett says IMPD is monitoring protests in Louisville and elsewhere. "We will protect the rights of citizens to protest publicly, but we will take all available and necessary steps to protect against any kind of vandalism, looting or other forms of violence."

Bar seating, dance floors remain closed because #socialdistancing wouldn't be possible.

Caine: reopening thresholds (35/day, <5% positivity) based on CDC guidelines representing "moderate" risk of transmission. Getting down to low risk would be 20 cases/day. "We're trying to do a balance, because we know how devastating it is from an economic standpoint."

Caine says she thinks numbers can reach those goals by November 1, "if everybody practices their shared responsibility."

Caine: in addition to higher population density, Indy has three universities, which means more college students "who don't always practice what we consider good measures for preventing infection" when they flood into the bars.

Caine: we were as low as 45/day and 4.2% in June, and we jumped the gun. "This is a lesson learned. We went too fast compared to the state." She says the density of Marion County means a greater risk of virus transmission than elsewhere in the state.

Caine on Holcomb lifting restrictions statewide: "He's a smart governor, because he's always allowed local governments to make [stricter] recommendations if you feel you need to make them....We know what's happening, where he may not always have that access."

Caine with belated explanation of why @IndyEleven initially had higher capacity limits than @colts: The Eleven submitted their plan back in June, when things were looking good and health depts weren't even required to approve. Forgot it was there by time Colts submitted theirs.

Caine: Colts-Vikings game "even exceeded our expectations" for how well it went. As long as numbers continue to improve and people follow rules at @LucasOilStadium, capacity limits may continue to rise; she can envision allowing 15K for Colts.

Caine: 90% of #COVID tests come back with results within 2-4 days. Some of the exceptions are because people give wrong email address, or email goes to spam folder.

The problem with being on a Zoom call with both @ArikaHerron and @ericweddle is that when they get called on, I get a brief OMG moment before realizing I'm not the one who has to unmute.

Caine closing with a reminder/plea: "I need EVERYONE to get their #FluShot" so Indy doesn't face a "twindemic" of flu and #COVID19.