By Hope Shrum
TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS — As Gov. Eric Holcomb delayed a full reopening of businesses and activities due to a rise in COVID-19 cases, his administration announced that it will post virus infection data from individual long-term health care facilities, which officials have resisted doing for months.

During Holcomb’s weekly press briefing Wednesday, Dr. Dan Rusyniak, chief medical officer of the Family and Social Services Administration, said that the department will be requiring all long-term care facilities to give them an accurate and comprehensive list of when COVID cases occurred, how many residents and staff died, how many recovered and the demographics of those involved. The data will be collected from March 1.

For months Holcomb and his staff have resisted providing the data by individual facilities, saying families should be able to get the information from the homes where their loved ones live. Nearly every press conference has included questions from journalists asking the governor when his administration would provide the information, and until Wednesday, the answer was that it would not release the data.

At the press briefing, Rusyniak said that once the department has the information from facilities, which is expected by mid-July, they will share their preliminary findings with the public. About two to four weeks after that, officials will make a dashboard using the data available to the public so anyone can look up specific facilities.

“It’s going to take some time, but that time is necessary to follow the process so that we can have an informative and updateable, interactive public dashboard moving forward,” Rusyniak said.

Meanwhile, across Indiana, the number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have been on the rise. That is why Holcomb said that he is delaying a full reopening of the state’s businesses and activities until July 18.

Dr. Kristina Box, the commissioner of the state health department, reported an increase of 371 COVID-19 cases from the previous day, bringing the total number of confirmed infected Hoosiers to 45,952. There were eight more deaths, totaling 2,456 in the state, not including the 194 Hoosiers who had symptoms of the virus but were not tested before they died.

“We’ve seen what’s happening in states like Florida, California, Texas and South Carolina, which are seeing their highest of seven-day averages in cases, and in many cases, they are pausing or rolling back their reopening by closing bars and gyms and restaurants and continuing to prohibit indoor dining,” Box said. “That’s not where we want to be going forward.”

The state was originally set to enter Stage 5 of the reopening plan on July 4, but Holcomb is moving to Stage 4.5, calling it a “cautious step forward” as state officials use the next two weeks to gauge whether Indiana will continue to move forward or take a step back like other states who have seen increases of the virus.

“More than recognizing it, we have to accept the fact that this virus is on the prowl, and it’s moving, even within our borders,” Holcomb said. “And we are living in virus time.”

While there will be a temporary pause on increasing capacity in restaurant dining rooms, bars, and entertainment venues during Stage 4.5, Holcomb gave the “green light” to mostly outdoor activities since the risk of transmission of the virus is known to be much smaller while outdoors.

Dr. Woody Myers, the Democratic candidate for governor, released a statement after Wednesday’s briefing in response to the delay in Stage 5, saying while he applauded the governor for delaying a full reopening, Holcomb is putting Hoosiers at increased risk for contracting COVID-19.

“Our focus should be implementing a statewide mask order and encouraging Indiana to stay home,” Myers said in the statement.

While Holcomb and Box have always recommended the use of face coverings, they have never mandated that people wear them in public. Instead, they are putting their efforts into campaigns to encourage mask-wearing in public.

They previewed two videos during the press briefing to promote their newest initiative,  #MaskUpHoosiers, which will show government leaders, celebrities, and Hoosiers of all kinds sharing their reasons to wear a mask.

“This good example needs to spread faster than the virus,” Holcomb said. “It may be inconvenient, but it works.”

To keep the public safe during the pandemic, the 2020 Indiana State Fair was canceled last month. However, a summer carnival will be replacing it at the state fairgrounds from July 31 through Sept. 7.

The Fairgrounds Fun Park will be open from noon to 9 p.m., Thursday through Sunday, with more than 50 rides and 540 food vendors on the site, according to a press release from North American Midway Entertainment, who will be hosting the carnival.

This has raised concern from many Hoosiers wondering why children showing their animals in the 4-H competitions were canceled, but the carnival rides, which are frequently touched, will be allowed.

FOOTNOTE: Hope Shrum is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.