Hammond extends city mask mandate

Hospitalizations tied to COVID-19 ticking upward

Hammond is the latest Lake County municipality to extend its COVID-19 mask mandate.

The state’s mask mandate expires Tuesday, though masks will still be recommended and will be mandatory in all state buildings and schools. Local governments have the option of imposing their own mask mandates.

Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. announced Monday that the city’s mask mandate will be extended through May 31 in all city government buildings, offices or facilities. The mandate does not apply to private businesses “who are encouraged to institute social distancing requirements and masking requirements as they see fit,” according to a statement.

“I hope everyone will remain vigilant, practice social distancing and continue to wear their mask,” McDermott said. “This is not over yet, and we want everyone to remain safe.”

As of Monday, statewide more than 691,000 positive COVID19 cases have been reported and 12,668 Hoosiers have died of the virus, according to the Indiana Department of Health dashboard.

Lake County saw 57 new cases of COVID-19 raising the total number of cases to 50,349, according to the data. With no new deaths reported Monday, the county’s total COVID19 deaths remains at 923 people, according to the data.

In Porter County, 37 new COVID-19 cases were reported Monday, with a total of 16,800 COVID-19 cases. With no new deaths reported, the county’s total COVID-19 deaths remains at 293 people, according to the data.

In the last 48 hours before the mask mandate expires, the 7-day

average of daily new cases is back up over 1,000 per day across the state, according to Micah Pollak, associate professor of economics at Indiana University Northwest.

In Northwest Indiana, COVID19 cases continue to rise with a 7-day average of 144 new cases per day which is 69% higher than two weeks ago, Pollak said. Hospitalizations are also rising, from 6.1 per day to 8.3 per day just one week ago, he said.

After Gov. Eric Holcomb announced mandate expiration, Gary Mayor Jerome Prince stated that the city will continue its face covering mandate for two more weeks.

“During that time, we’ll track the numbers of new COVID-19 positive cases and COVID-19 related deaths, local hospitalization data and the progress we’ve made on vaccinations,” Prince said. “Those metrics will give me and my team the information we need to make a decision on how and when we will ease the mandate.”

In Porter County, masks will go from mandated to recommended, though still required in county buildings, once the state mask mandate is lifted.

“The Porter County Health Department strongly recommends the continued wearing of face coverings in public indoor spaces, including business and retail establishments, gyms, and exercise facilities, places of worship, event venues and governmental offices,” Dr. Maria Stamp, the county’s health officer said.

Last week, the Lake County Board of Commissioners extended the county’s mask mandate for 30 days and will review the mask order again by April 30, according to the order.

Lake County Board of Commissioner’s President Mike Repay, D-3rd, said the county mask extension was extended to keep everyone safe.

“In order to protect the general public and employees with a safer work environment it felt like the mask order was still necessary,” Repay said.

Repay said he doesn’t agree with removing the state’s mask mandate because — while critics of the mandate say it isn’t enforceable — having a mask mandate at the state level gave businesses a way to enforce it.

“Whatever we can do at this point, even though we have the vaccination roll out, don’t give up at the very end,” Repay said.