July Fourth was projected to be Indiana's Independence Day from many of the restrictions the state imposed to keep the coronavirus in check, the date when stores, bars and restaurants could open at full capacity.
But Wednesday Gov. Eric Holcomb declined to move full speed ahead into Stage 5 of Indiana's Back on Track plan, noting that many other states, including some of Indiana's neighbors, have seen their caseloads increase dramatically. Some Indiana indicators also gave state officials caution.
Instead, Holcomb announced Indiana will be in what he described as Stage 4.5 for the next two weeks.
Stage 4.5 will look much like, well, Stage 4. Over the next two weeks, he said, he will monitor the situation closely to determine whether to move to Stage 5 on July 18.
"The date doesn't drive us, but the data does," he said in his weekly news briefing. "We are living on virus time."
Some states are seeing coronavirus cases skyrocket. We're not. Why?
In Ohio, newly reported cases topped 1,000 for the first time since April. Illinois earlier this week saw its hospitalizations for coronavirus tick up slightly.
Indiana so far has not seen a surge, and the governor wants to keep it that way.
"We don't want to find ourselves in that situation," Holcomb said. "This virus is on the prowl. ... In some places it's gaining momentum. It's not slowing down."
Yet some Indiana indicators are foreboding.
Although Indiana has seen lower case reports on some days — for instance Wednesday the state reported 371 new cases — there have been some days over the past week where new cases have hovered around 500, just over half the amount of the highest day to date, April 26, when 946 new cases were reported.
In addition, hospitalizations for COVID in this state have ticked up slightly in recent days. Last Friday 595 people were hospitalized throughout the state, the lowest number since early April, according to the Indiana State Department of Health. But by Tuesday that number had increased to 668.
In addition, Holcomb said, the percentage of tests coming back positive, which had been trending in the right direction — down — had started to rise slightly in recent days.
"We see our numbers just ticking up a little bit," Indiana State Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Kristina Box said. "We want to continue to be conservative and smart about this."
#MaskUpHoosiers
Both Box and Holcomb spoke repeatedly about the importance of wearing a mask. Three Northern Indiana counties so far have mandated the use of face coverings in public: St. Joseph, LaGrange and most recently Elkhart. The governor and the doctor said they supported the decision of local authorities to take this step.
So far, however, Holcomb has opted not to follow suit.
Instead, Wednesday he unveiled a new social media campaign #MaskUpHoosiers, complete with public service announcements, featuring luminaries from state government and his regular news conferences, explaining why they wear a mask.
In one, Holcomb said he wears a mask for his parents. Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch says she wears her mask for her daughter Courtney. Box says she wears her mask "for all of you."
In another video Colts mascot Blue pulls a mascot-sized mask over his face and silently holds up a sign saying he wears his mask for Colts Nation.
For now, Holcomb said, he would not mandate wearing a mask "because I believe in Hoosiers."
However, he did say that statehouse employees will be expected to wear masks, and Box noted in response to a question about why Indiana has not mandated it that individual businesses can choose to do so for their stores.
"We hunkered down," says the website devoted to the campaign. "Now it's time to mask up."
Entering Stage 4.5
Some other states that have seen cases skyrocket and their hospitals fill to capacity have both made masks mandatory and walked back their reopening plans. Texas and Florida last week closed bars or restricted alcohol sales, and earlier this week Arizona did the same.
Rather than walking back any of Indiana's reopening measures, Holcomb said Wednesday that Stage 4.5 will temporarily pause increases in capacity to restaurants, bars and entertainment venues, among other items.
Outdoors events such as fireworks shows and local parades will be allowed, Holcomb said, as evidence suggests that the chance of viral transmission out of doors is significantly smaller than the risk of transmission indoors.
The new stage is set to last from July 4 through July 17. Under the governor's initial five-phase plan to reopen the state, Stage 5 was set to begin in most of the state on Saturday.
Most of the state is in Stage 4 of the initial plan, which allows restaurants to be open at 75% capacity, bars open at 50% capacity and some entertainment venues open at 50% capacity. It began on June 12 in much of the state.
Indianapolis, the state's most populous city, has chosen a slower reopening path, beginning Stage 4 a week behind the governor's plan.
Holcomb moved up both the third and fourth stages of reopening by two days. The fifth and final stage, which was projected to start July 4, will be the first to be delayed from the initial plan.
Contact IndyStar digital producer Ethan May at emay@indystar.com or 317-402-1058. Follow him on Twitter: @EthanMayJ.
Contact IndyStar reporter Shari Rudavsky at shari.rudavsky@indystar.com. Follow her on Facebook and on Twitter: @srudavsky.
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Gov. Holcomb announces new coronavirus phase: It's Stage 4.5, beginning Saturday - IndyStar
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