PLYMOUTH — Marshall County Commissioners have declared a public health emergency aimed at slowing spread of the novel coronavirus as its COVID-19 cases have recently increased.
“Our hospital in Plymouth and the Mishawaka hospital are full of COVID patients and we’ve had 260 new cases in the last two weeks,” said commissioner President Kevin Overmyer. “It continues to skyrocket and we need to do something to curb this. The reason why we’re doing this is we need to make people aware that you need to mask up, you need to social distance. This has got to be stopped, somehow, some way.”
The order doesn't restrict commerce or travel, but it empowers county Health Officer Dr. Byron Holm to close or restrict church and school gatherings if he feels people meeting in person aren't following Gov. Eric Holcomb's mandate to wear masks, physically distance and sanitize.
The county had 1,400 cases as of Friday, up from 1,218 a week ago, reporting a rolling seven-day average of 20 new daily cases Thursday, according to Indiana's COVID-19 dashboard.
The order took effect Thursday and lasts seven days, the maximum allowed under Indiana statute, Overmyer said. He said commissioners will review case numbers on Thursday and decide whether to extend it. With schools closed for Fall Break Friday and Monday, “next week we’ll see where are numbers are at if people bring COVID back into the county.”
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