Additional restrictions on COVID-19 are in effect for Hamilton County after the Indiana Department of Health on January 6 classified it as red at its advisory level to determine the spread of the disease in the community.
The state requires counties categorized as red:
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Limit social gatherings to 25 people, with no exceptions from the local health department
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Limit participation in recreational sporting events to participants, mandatory staff, parents, guardians, siblings, spouses and minor children of participants or employees
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Allow indoor meals, but encourage companies to promote sidewalk collection or online ordering
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Suggest that K-12 school staff review and re-evaluate their plans based on recommendations from the Department of Education and IDOH
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Suspend activities in elderly centers
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Allow hospitals, long-term care and other congregated environments to impose visitation limits.
Counties designated as red have 200 or more cases per 100,000 residents per week and a positivity rate on all seven-day tests of 15% or more.
“Unfortunately, the new assignment is not a big surprise,” said Jason LeMaster, interim administrator for the Hamilton County Health Department in a press release. “Our local positivity rate has been fluctuating near the 15 percent limit for days and we are only now seeing an increase in cases during the holiday season.”
The county must meet orange level metrics for two consecutive weeks before it can return to that designation. Orange counties have a weekly COVID-19 case number of 100 to 199 per 100,000 residents and a positivity rate on all seven-day tests of 10 to 14.9 percent.
“This means that Hamilton County will remain on RED for at least the next three weeks.” LeMaster stated. “The only way to reverse the course is to decrease our numbers, so we are asking the community to be incredibly vigilant. Wash the hands. Social distance. Avoid indoor meetings and get tested if you think you may have been exposed to the virus. We all have the power to straighten this ship. “
See the state’s COVID-19 panel and the designations of all counties at coronavirus.in.gov.