Indiana remains at Stage 5 as COVID-19 cases rise and health commissioner tests positive

INDIANAPOLIS —Gov. Eric Holcomb said Wednesday that he’s keeping Indiana at Stage 5 of his reopening plan even as the number of COVID-19 cases continue to climb and his own health commissioner, Dr. Kristina Box, announced she and her family tested positive for the disease.

At a technically challenged virtual press conference, a masked Holcomb appealed to Hoosiers who are “showing a disregard for the health of their fellow citizens” and acting “as if this current situation and this coronavirus doesn’t exist” to wear masks and maintain a safe distance from others in public.

“Those decisions can directly and indirectly — even not intentionally — again, cost lives,” Holcomb said of people who are behaving as if the pandemic has ended. “More than 3,609 to be exact, as of today.” He was referring to the number of Hoosiers who have died of the highly contagious novel coronavirus.

Holcomb, who extended the mask mandate for another month, elaborated on the consequences of COVID-19 as it spreads through the community by citing increased healthcare costs, lost wages and business failures.

Read more: http://thestatehousefile.com/indiana-remains-at-stage-5-as-covid-19-cases-rise-and-health-commissioner-tests-positive/43130/