Hoosiers are being asked to stay home a while longer.
While Indiana residents will be required to follow the state’s stay-at-home order through May 1—a one-week extension of the order—certain businesses will be allowed to reopen, and some people will be able to move forward with elective medical procedures in the coming days, Gov. Eric Holcomb said Monday.
Holcomb last week alluded to reopening the state in phases, which could mean some parts of the state reopen before others.
The updated executive order Holcomb signed Monday extends the stay-at-home order to May 1. During that time, Indiana residents are still required to avoid non-essential trips and practice social distancing, limiting gatherings to fewer than 10 people, per CDC guidelines.
Businesses deemed non-essential have been closed since March. But nurseries, greenhouses and pet groomers are now allowed to reopen, Holcomb said during a Monday afternoon news conference.
Although recent medical efforts have been focused entirely on COVID-19, starting Tuesday, hospitals can conduct clinical procedures to diagnose, screen and treat patients who have medical conditions unrelated to the disease caused by the coronavirus. And if hospitals have enough supplies, starting Monday, patients can have elective procedures done, Holcomb said.
More than half of Indiana’s hospital beds in Intensive Care Units throughout the state were occupied Monday. But the majority of those were for non-COVID-19 patients. More than 77% of the state’s ventilators are not being used, according to the Indiana State Department of Health.
As of Monday, 430 Johnson County residents have tested positive for COVID-19, and 34 have succumbed to complications from the virus, according to the Johnson County Health Department.
Nursing homes have been particularly hard hit. As of Friday, 10 people at Otterbein Franklin SeniorLife Community in Franklin had died, and one resident at The Hearth at Stones Crossing in Greenwood died, according to officials at the retirement homes. Visitation at area nursing homes has been restricted entirely for more than a month.
At hospitals that are allowing families to visit patients in end-of-life situations, those who are at high-risk for complications due to the virus still should not, said Kristina Box, Indiana’s health commissioner.
Holcomb said last week he was seeking input from businesses and local government officials around the state about what precautions they would plan to take for opening up once the order is lifted, he said.
Health officials are looking at local EMS runs, hospitalization and ventilator usage rates, Box said. The state is using that information to determine which areas and industries can reopen, Holcomb said.
Holcomb is coordinating plans with fellow Midwestern governors in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Kentucky. However, final decisions will be based on conditions on the ground in Indiana, he said.
