Indiana mask mandate to continue through at least Sept. 25
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Gov. Eric Holcomb on Wednesday said Indiana’s mask mandate will last through at least Sept 25.
The announcement came during a coronavirus briefing from Indiana officials via videoconference from the Statehouse. Additional topics addressed during the videoconference included absentee voting by mail, and two new programs for renters, landlords and homeowners facing evictions.
The governor initiated the mask mandate on July 27. It was set to expire Wednesday.
Indiana’s coronavirus positivity rate was at 7.6% on July 27. That’s dropped to 6.6% on Aug. 19. The goal is to get that rate below 5%, said Holcomb and Dr. Kristina Box, the state’s health commissioner. However, both said there is no clear criteria for when the mask mandate, social distancing, hand washing or other measures to prevent the virus could end.
Indiana has recorded 3,041 deaths from COVID-19. Hoosiers have had more than 89,000 positive coronavirus tests since Feb. 26.
The Stage 4.5 reopening plan will remain, with no changes in capacity restrictions for restaurants, bars or entertainment venues, the governor added.
The governor said in July that the mandate works as follows:
- Applies to anyone 8 or older in indoor public spaces, commercial entities or transportation services, or outside public spaces when people cannot socially distance.
- Mask use in schools required for Grade 3 and higher for faculty and staff, volunteers and anyone in schools. Masks also will be required for co-curricular and extracurricular activities, with exceptions for strenuous physical activity.
- Exceptions will be made for medical purposes, strenuous physical activity, eating, and drinking.
- Masks are strongly recommended for ages 2-7.
Determining factors for the creation of the mask mandate:
- Get children back to school and keep Indiana businesses open and operating.
- Increase in the COVID-19 positivity rate. It has jumped to 9% from 7% on July 14.
- Increase in number of Hoosiers hospitalized for COVID-19.
- Additional counties seeing more cases.
- Increase in cases and positivity rates in neighboring states.
Indiana Supreme Court creates programs for evictions, foreclosures
Also on Wednesday, Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice announced two programs.
One will help landlords and tenants resolve issues. A website outlines the program: “The Landlord and Tenant Settlement Conference Program is a way to help landlords and tenants talk about their situation with the help of a “facilitator”, a neutral helper, to see if a settlement can be reached before an eviction case is filed or, if an eviction case has already been filed, to see if an agreement can be reached between the parties before the court makes a decision in the eviction case. There is no cost to participants for participating in this program.”
The other program addresses foreclosures. A website outlines the program: “The Indiana Supreme Court’s Mortgage Foreclosure Trial Court Assistance Project (MFTCAP) is a settlement conference program seeking to join borrowers and lenders with court-appointed facilitators. As a result of legislation passed in 2009, Indiana homeowners with a foreclosure action filed against them continue to have the right to participate in a settlement conference with their lender in an effort to come to an agreement that will avert foreclosure. Funding for this project is provided in part by the Indiana Bar Foundation.”
Absentee voting in Indiana
Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson said forecasts predict 1.3 million to 1.8 million Hoosiers will vote absentee by mail. So far, more than 99,000 requests have been received for absentee voting by mail. That compares to 58,818 in total for the last presidential election year of 2016.
The U.S. Postal Service is helping county clerk’s offices to design envelopes that will help the federal agency prioritize election mail, Lawson said.
The Postal Service says applications for absentee ballots should be mailed by Oct. 19 and returned by Oct. 27. However, Lawson said, Hoosiers should not wait until those deadlines; they can apply now for absentee ballots. Counties are not yet sending ballots since the Republican Party has yet to formally approved its candidates, which is expected to happen Thursday.
Indiana has 13 criteria that allow Hoosiers to vote absentee by mail, and a federal court ruling Friday said those criteria are constitutional. An Indiana government website provides details on who can vote absentee by mail. Indiana is one of nine states requiring a reason to cast an absentee ballot for the Nov. 3 election.
Lawson said, for those Hoosiers who may not get their absentee ballots returned by Oct. 27, the state has laws that only allow absentee ballots to be dropped off at county clerk’s offices, not at polling places. The absentee ballot has to be dropped off by the voter or a member of the voter’s immediate household.
Lawson also issued a call for poll workers, especially in Marion County, during the videoconference. Marion County poll workers do not have to live in the county, she said.
Today’s top coronavirus headlines
- Don’t argue with anti-maskers, CDC warns stores
- Been in contact with a COVID-19 patient? No symptoms, no test, CDC says
Statement
“The so-called ‘mask mandate’ remains no more enforceable today than the day it was first issued.”
Indiana Attorney General Curtis T. Hill, Jr.