Too soon to ditch masks?
Some in state questioning if Holcomb’s move is too premature
Patrick Churilla was skeptical of Gov. Eric Holcomb’s Tuesday announcement that he’s lifting the mask mandate and remaining COVID-19 restrictions in a couple of weeks.
Churilla, 63, of Chesterton, is retired from the Environmental Protection Agency and was at the Porter County Expo Center Wednesday to get his first round of the Pfizer vaccine against COVID-19.
“I understand the desire to open up because people have got to make money but in general, we’ve pushed too fast, the entire country,” he said.
With the vaccine rollout, the country is moving closer to that point, Churilla said, adding he would move more incrementally. He is glad
that Holcomb said municipalities and businesses could maintain mask mandates and other restrictions if they so choose.
“I think we’re maybe half a year away from being pretty open,” he said.
Officials and business owners in Lake and Porter counties were equally concerned about Holcomb’s announcement, citing the need for more people to receive vaccines, more contagious strains of the virus being found here and ongoing wariness about lifting restrictions too soon.
Porter County moved from the blue level to yellow Wednesday because of an increase in COVD-19 numbers and health department officials announced earlier this week that the more contagious United Kingdom variant has been found in six cases there.
County officials have not yet decided whether the mask mandate and other restrictions will be lifted with the rest of the state, said Connie Rudd, director of nursing for the health department.
“We’re still watching the hospitalizations and still watching the deaths,” as well as the positive tests, she said.
Any decision on restrictions imposed in Porter County would be the outcome of discussions between the Board of Commissioners and Dr. Maria Stamp, the county health officer, Rudd said.
“There’s going to be a lot of people making those decisions and doing what’s best, especially with those new variants,” she said.
In Crown Point, Chris
Pappas, chef owner of Provecho, said safety precautions will most likely stay in place at his restaurant in part because of the way many people are viewing the restaurant world at this time.
“I don’t know if going maskless is much of an option for us,” Pappas said. The perception of safety is important to diners, so having staff continue to wear masks may help make customers more comfortable. He said the restaurant does not want to be the first to go mask-free and eliminate all the restrictions, only to come under fire on social media for not being safe.
Pappas said at this point the restaurant’s staff has been following protocols for so long, continuing those protocols a little longer until things are a little safer is not a big deal.
“I don’t want people to feel unsafe coming out. I don’t want to promote us as being unsafe. It doesn’t hurt anybody to wear one,” Pappas said. Keeping a mask requirement in place will help guests feel more comfortable, he said.
“As far as our guests are concerned, it doesn’t really change anything,” Pappas said. Guests currently are not required to wear masks once at their tables, and the restaurant is set up with 6-foot social distancing in mind. Pappas said with patio season coming soon, capacity will not be an issue.
Dr. Roland Walker, Gary’s health commissioner, said he has concerns about the governor’s decision to make mask wearing advisory and lifting capacity limits in light of the new variants appearing locally.
“I don’t think it is a good time to pull back too far,” Walker said. He and Gary Mayor Jerome Prince will be discussing the best way for the city to respond moving forward.
Prince said right now he and Walker are on the same page.
“We definitely understand the governor’s desire to get the economy moving again,” Prince said.
The mayor said it is important to note while Holcomb lifted the mandate, an advisory to wear masks and social distance remains in place.
“What that means is at least he recognizes while it is important to get the economy moving it is also important to pay attention to the science and data. That is something we have done since the inception and it’s an approach we will continue to take,” Prince said.
Loosening capacity requirements could be possible coupled with proper social distancing and will be considered in response to any decision made, or to compliment any decision made.
“The numbers and data will dictate any activity we do,” Prince said.
Lake County Board of Commissioner President Michael Repay, D-3rd, said he’s not sure why Holcomb made the decision.
“The CDC is not relinquishing any of its guidance with regard to mask wearing, and so I’m a little skeptical whether the governor made a decision based on science or whether he made it based on politics,” Repay said.
Before April 6, the commissioners will meet to discuss how to approach the county’s mask mandate in government buildings, Repay said. But, Repay said he is leaning toward extending the county mask mandate because he’s following the science.
“I’ll get medical advice from doctors not politicians,” Repay said.
State Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes, said the state is “moving in the right direction,” particularly with the vaccine rollout, but people should still be cautious.
“I think that we should still be careful. If you’re going on an airplane or a place where there is a lot of people let’s be careful,” Tallian said.
Highland Town Council President Roger Sheeman, R-5th, said once the governor’s orders are lifted, the town will follow suit.
“Highland has no plans to mandate wearing of masks,” Sheeman said in an email. “In-person Town Council meetings will begin on April 12th. At that time, I believe we will be opening Town Hall up to allow more residents in the building at the same time. “
Micah Pollak, Director for Indiana University Northwest’s Center for Economic
Education and Research, said that although there are two sides to every decision, he doesn’t see any benefit to the state loosening any vigilance against the virus. Opening up vaccine eligibility to everyone is fantastic, he said, but not when so many people are still waiting to get vaccinated.
“I’ve talked to people 50 and up who’re still waiting for their appointments — never mind those who’re in their 40s. Opening it up to people 40 and up added only 400,000 to the list, so what’s going to happen when 2.2 million are eligible? That’s an increase of 440%. Can our registration system handle it?” Pollak said. “Also, it takes weeks for a person to reach immunity after the second shot, so going one to two months from the start of April without restrictions is going to leave a lot of people without protection.”
The highest-risk people — 60-plus — have already been vaccinated, so that could dull any imminent COVID19 surge. The big unknown, however, is the presence of the more contagious, virulent variants in the state, he said. And as far as businesses being able to open, loosening restrictions likely won’t have the effect anyone thinks.
“People not going out wasn’t because they didn’t want to wear face masks — people weren’t going out because they weren’t comfortable that businesses were doing enough to protect them,” he said. “Now, you risk scaring people away from going out.”