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Gov. Holcomb Takes More Actions to Protect Hoosiers During Public Emergency

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Schools, Economy, Unemployment Insurance Changes Announced

Governor Eric J. Holcomb took additional unprecedented actions today to protect and support Hoosiers during the COVID-19 outbreak by signing executive orders that extend the closure of schools, provide economic relief and protections for individuals and businesses, and expand unemployment insurance benefits for those impacted by job loss.

“Every day we learn more about how to tackle this monster. We are being thoughtful about how to approach every action we are taking in this national public health emergency and putting Hoosiers’ health and safety first,” said Gov. Holcomb.

Daily COVID-19 testing capacity in Indiana has expanded with the addition of a new partnership between the Indiana State Department of Health and Eli Lilly and Company, and at least one other entity has initiated testing this week. In the past 24 hours, about 200 tests have been completed.

“As we increase the number of tests analyzed each day, no one should be caught off guard that the number of positive cases will increase,” said Dr. Kris Box, state health commissioner. “This will help us know where community spread is occurring in Indiana and help us mobilize resources in affected areas.”

Here is a summary of the covered actions. The Executive Orders, which contain additional actions, will be found at this link: https://www.in.gov/gov/2384.htm

State of Emergency Extension

  • The Governor will extend the current state of emergency an additional 30 days when it expires on April 5.

K-12 schools

  • All K-12 public schools will remain closed until May 1. Non-public schools are also ordered closed. This date may be revised to extend through the end of the 2019-2020 school year if circumstances warrant.
  • All-state mandated assessments will be canceled for the current academic year. The governor has contacted U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to share the state’s plan and also has asked the Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Jennifer McCormick to pursue any federal waivers needed to cancel the requirements for accountability, chronic absenteeism and state-mandated assessments.

Economy

  • The state of Indiana will align with the federal government to delay state income tax payments from April 15 to July 15. The U.S. Treasury extended the deadline to pay federal income tax by 90 days.
  • Penalties will be waived for 60 days for property tax paid after May 11. The state will work with counties that may experience cash flow stress because of the delay.
  • The state will not immediately move forward with using $300 million in reserves to pay for several capital projects approved in the just-concluded legislative session and instead maintain flexibility to utilize the funds as needed for relief efforts and to maintain current services. The state will consider using bonding authority to move forward with the just-approved capital projects.
  • Providers of essential utility services such as gas and electric, broadband, telecom, water and wastewater services are prohibited from discontinuing service to any customer during the public health emergency.
  • The state’s application to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) was approved on Wednesday. This program provides targeted, low-interest loans of up to $2 million to help small businesses and nonprofits overcome the temporary loss of revenue as a result of coronavirus. See more atSBA.gov/Disaster.

 Unemployment Insurance Benefits

  • The state will interpret Indiana’s unemployment laws to the broadest extent possible to cover Hoosiers who are out of work because of COVID-19.
  • Benefits will be paid to individuals who file their initial unemployment claims late.
  • The Department of Workforce Development will allow individuals to continue to accrue unemployment eligibility if they take work leave because of COVID-19.
  • DWD will seek federal authorization to provide unemployment benefits for those who are not otherwise eligible for unemployment, such individuals who have recently started a job.
  • For employers, DWD will not assess certain experience rate penalties because of employees who receive unemployment benefits because of COVID-19.

Housing

  • No residential eviction proceedings or foreclosure actions may be initiated during the public health emergency. This does not relieve the individual of obligations to pay rent or mortgage payments.
  • All public housing authorities are requested to extend deadlines for housing assistance recipients and required documentation to show eligibility for housing programs.
  • The Indiana Department of Financial Institutions and Indiana Community Housing Development Authority are required to work with financial institutions to identify tools to help promote housing stability.

Social Services

  • Participants in the Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP) and the Children’s Health Insurance Program are not required to make premium payments.
  • Job search requirements are waived for those applying for Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) benefits.
  • The Family and Social Services Administration will seek a federal waiver to extend renewals for existing Medicaid and HIP recipients.
  • Telehealth services for mental health, substance use disorder and prescribing for Medicaid covered services will be expanded.

Insurance

  • The commissioner of the state Department of Insurance will request that insurers institute a 60-day moratorium on policy cancellations for non-payment of premiums. This does not suspend a policyholder’s obligation to make payments.
  • The commissioner will ask health insurers to cover COVID-19 testing without requiring prior authorization.
  • The commissioner will request that health insurers not increase prices or coverage costs that involve medical care for COVID-19.

Bureau of Motor Vehicles

  • To limit the number of in-branch transactions, late fees will be waived for several driver’s licenses and identification card renewals, vehicle registrations, titles, and certain other transactions.
  • Other operational changes in branches are being instituted to provide for the safety of employees and customers in branches, such as spacing between terminals and limiting the number of customers in the lobby.

Veterans

  • Requirements have been relaxed for veterans to qualify for awards from the Military Family Relief Fund.
  • Awards in excess of $2,500 may be approved by the IDVA director during the public health emergency.

Health and Professional Licensin

  • Mental health professionals are permitted to practice via telemedicine.
  • Advance Practice Registered Nurses are allowed to provide services in multiple locations.
  • The state health commissioner may waive requirements of the nursing home certificate of need statute to respond to COVID-19 issues for long-term care facilities.

 

FOOTNOTE: More information may be found at the ISDH website at in.gov/coronavirus/ and the CDC website at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html.

 

AG Curtis Hill warns of scams related to coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic

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Attorney General Curtis Hill today asked Hoosiers to be wary of scams as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic sweeps across the globe. 

In times of crisis, Attorney General Hill said, scams become more prevalent. Scammers and fraudsters often attempt to take advantage of vulnerable consumers during difficult moments.

Attorney General Hill urged Hoosiers to remain vigilant during these hardships and to always be on the lookout for fraudulent activities.

“The unprecedented coronavirus pandemic has undoubtedly left many Hoosiers feeling worried, scared or uncertain about the world around them,” Attorney General Hill said. “Scammers capitalize on challenging times like this to prey on innocent consumers. Falling victim to a scam during this pandemic could have irreversible consequences.”

The Office of the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division is actively communicating with health departments, health clinics and retail outlets to stay on top of potential scams and concerns. Cyber scams involving emails or text messages related to the coronavirus have already been reported.

Attorney General Hill offered these tips to avoid phishing scams during the coronavirus pandemic:

  • Be on alert for communications with dangerous attachments or fraudulent links.
  • Treat any emails or texts with subject lines or information about coronavirus with caution.
  • Avoid clicking on links in unsolicited emails and be wary of email attachments.
  • Always verify the email addresses of those who send you emails.
  • Use trusted, legitimate government websites to obtain up-to-date information.
  • Don’t reveal personal or financial information via email or text message.
  • Verify the authenticity of a charity before donating money.

Attorney General Hill also asked Hoosiers to avoid fraudulent products that claim to test for, prevent or treat coronavirus. The Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have said there are currently no vaccines, pills, potions, lotions, lozenges or other prescription or over-the-counter products commercially available to treat or cure the virus.

“It’s a shame that in these already tough times, scammers are trying to make consumers’ lives even more difficult,” Attorney General Hill said. “But by exercising caution, you can avoid them.”

Check back regularly here for Office of the Attorney General consumer-related updates and alerts.

To submit a price-gouging complaint, the Office is encouraging Hoosiers to utilize the online consumer complaint form. You can find the form by going to www.indianaconsumer.com and clicking “File a Complaint.”

For up-to-date information about the coronavirus, please visit the Indiana State Department of Health website at https://www.in.gov/coronavirus/. You may also call the department 24/7 at 1-877-826-0011.

Vanderburgh County Current Warrants

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Vanderburgh County Current Warrants

DEACONESS CONFIRMS FIRST POSITIVE COVID-19 RESULTEVANSVILLE/HENDERSON –

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 Deaconess is confirming our first positive COVID-19 test result.

The patient was sent for curbside testing at Deaconess Midtown from one of our outpatient facilities in Henderson.

The patient has been contacted, and is doing well on home quarantine. We have also received several negative results in the past 12 hours. Both Indiana & Kentucky health departments have been notified.

MESSAGE OF HOPE AND COMPASSION FROM COUNTY COMMISSIONER BEN SHOULDERS

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LINK OF HOPE AND COMPASSION FROM COUNTY COMMISSIONER BEN SHOULDERS
This is an extraordinary time in our community. The health, wellness, and safety of our family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers are THE top priority.
This is also an opportunity for our true and deepest values to shine. Call and check on someone who might be lonely. Check on a loved one or help someone who might be in need of just a little assistance. Give it to a nonprofit if you can.
PLEASE support our local businesses NOW more than ever. Please do all you can to stay aware, safe and healthy during these challenging times.  Please practice social distancing and hygiene at all times.
We will weather this storm TOGETHER and our community will be even stronger be
Stay strong and God bless.
Ben
FOOTNOTE; ANYONE WHO HAS A SIMILAR MESSAGE OF HOPE AND COMPASSION PLEASE SEND IT TO CITY-COUNTY OBSERVER AND WE WILL POST IT WITHOUT EDITING.

Gov. Holcomb Announces Small Business Assistance in Response to COVID-19

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Hoosier Small Businesses Invited To Apply For Low-Interest Loans
From U.S. Small Business Administration

Governor Eric J. Holcomb today announced that Indiana small businesses are eligible for financial assistance under a disaster designation by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

This declaration is in response to a formal request Gov. Holcomb submitted with the SBA on Tuesday, seeking assistance through the organization’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program for small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak in Indiana.

“Small businesses play a critical role in driving Indiana’s economy forward, with more than 512,000 employing 1.2 million Hoosiers across the state,” Gov. Holcomb said. “These disaster loans will provide much needed financial support to small business owners who are weathering the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.”

Under the program, small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives and nonprofits across the state are eligible to apply for low-interest loans up to $2 million to help overcome the temporary loss of revenue due to the COVID-19 outbreak. These loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills incurred during this public health emergency. The loan interest rates for small businesses and nonprofits are 3.75% and 2.75%, respectively, with terms up to 30 years.

To qualify for disaster loans, applicants must demonstrate credit history, the ability to repay the loan, and proof of physical presence in Indiana and working capital losses. Additionally, the Indiana Small Business Development Center, which has 10 regional offices throughout the state, will provide free business advising and application assistance for small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak.

To apply for loans or receive more information about the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, visit SBA.gov/Disaster. Contact 1-800-659-2955 or disastercustomerservice@sba.gov with additional questions. The deadline to apply for the disaster loans is Dec. 18, 2020.

 

PRESIDENT OF DEACONESS HEALTH SYSTEM ISSUES DIRE WARNING ABOUT CORONA VIRUS ON HIS FACEBOOK PAGE

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My friends, we are not taking this threat to our lives and lives of our loved ones seriously enough! Ultimately, healthcare workers will be on the front lines and will pay the price for our failure to heed the warnings and by then it will be too late.

Reports from physician colleagues in Italy and France are dire and we are a couple of weeks behind them on the same path!

South Korea is fairing better because they are appropriately afraid due to their experience with MERS CoV in 2015, a much less contagious Corona Virus.  They have taken bold action early to minimize human contact and opportunities to spread the disease and as a  result, their ICUs are not overflowing with the critically ill and dying.

If we don’t act now by staying home, keeping our kids home, keeping our distance from everyone, and reducing the opportunity for this highly contagious and lethal virus to spread, we will certainly wish we had.  This is MUCH worse than the flu!  If you are in the same space as someone shedding this virus without necessary Personal Protective Equipment, YOU WILL LIKELY CATCH IT!  And it appears to be around 1% lethal!  And while older folks and those with chronic conditions are at the greatest risk, healthy people in their 30″s have also died.  Folks that’s 1 in 100, 10 in 1000, 100 in 10,000 DEAD!  YOU DON’T WANT THOSE ODDS!!!

People you love will suffer and die if we don’t stop the spread.  Hopefully, it isn’t too late.  Follow the pleas of those who know how bad this can be and those who are experiencing it right now this can be and those might be able to keep this thing from spreading exponentially and I will happily be called the boy who cried wolf.  That’s the irony, success will make those who sounded the alarm seem like the fools.

FOOTNOTE: This message was taken from Dr. James Porter, President of Deaconess Health System Facebook post and was sent to us by several of our readers.  We reported this message with editing.

 

China Lied And People Died: Chinese Scientists Destroyed Wuhan Coronavirus Evidence in December

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China Lied And People Died: Chinese Scientists Destroyed Wuhan Coronavirus Evidence in December

Matt Vespa  @mvespa1
TOWNHALL
Posted: Mar 18, 2020, 2:30 PM

The Chinese are to blame for this Wuhan coronavirus pandemic. Their containment methods were laughable, their officials refused to inform the public, and people died. They allowed Wuhan to celebrate Chinese New Year, exposing potentially tens of thousands to the disease. Some five million left the city before they enacted a quarantine. And now we’re hearing that they knew about human transmissions. The Wall Street Journal’s piece on how this whole international fiasco began all but places the blame where it should rightfully be directed: China

It was on Dec. 10 that Wei Guixian, a seafood merchant in this city’s Hua’nan market, first started to feel sick. Thinking she was getting a cold, she walked to a small local clinic to get some treatment and then went back to work.
Eight days later, the 57-year-old was barely conscious in a hospital bed, one of the first suspected cases in a coronavirus epidemic that has paralyzed China and gripped the global economy. The virus has spread around the world and sickened more than 100,000.
For almost three weeks, doctors struggled to connect the dots between Ms. Wei and other early cases, many of them Hua’nan vendors. Patients after patient-reported similar symptoms, but many, like her, visited small, poorly resourced clinics and hospitals. Some patients balked at paying for chest scans; others, including Ms. Wei, refused to be transferred to bigger facilities that were better-equipped to identify infectious diseases.
When doctors did finally establish the Hua’nan link in late December, they quarantined Ms. Wei and others like her and raised the alarm to their superiors. But they were prevented by Chinese authorities from alerting their peers, let alone the public.
One of the first doctors to alert Chinese authorities were criticized for “spreading rumors” after sharing with a former medical-school classmate a test result showing a patient had a coronavirus. Another doctor had to write a self-criticism letter saying his warnings “had a negative impact.”
The Chinese government deleted lab work and samples and intimidated their doctors to cover up any trace of it while also lying to the World Health Organization. I’m fine calling it a Chinese Government Virus as well. NBC has been on the front lines pushing PRC propaganda.
And now, there are reports that Chinese scientists destroyed evidence about the virus back in December (via The Times UK):

Chinese laboratories identified a mystery virus as a highly infectious new pathogen by late December last year, but they were ordered to stop tests, destroy samples and suppress the news, a Chinese media outlet has revealed.

A regional health official in Wuhan, the centre of the outbreak, demanded the destruction of the lab samples that established the cause of unexplained viral pneumonia on January 1. China did not acknowledge there was human-to-human transmission until more than three weeks later.
The detailed revelations by Caixin Global, a respected independent publication, provide the clearest evidence yet of the scale of the cover-up in the crucial early weeks when the opportunity was lost to control the outbreak. Censors have been rapidly depleting the report from the Chinese internet.
Those who do slam the Chinese government’s antics vanish, as National Review’s Jim Geraghty noted, among other things. One doctor in Wuhan tried to raise the red flags about this virus in December and the state came down on her (via Business Insider): A Wuhan doctor said she wishes she could rewind the clock to December when she first sounded the alarm about a new pneumonia-like virus — only to back away after being reprimanded by Chinese officials.
Ai Fen, director of Wuhan Central Hospital’s emergency department, told Chinese magazine People that a colleague sent her a diagnostic report in late December of a worrying infection that mirrored severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), according to the South China Morning Post.
Ai shared a picture of the report on a WeChat group on December 30, and then its members circulated that photo more widely. Whistleblower doctor Li Wenliang, 34, who was silenced by Chinese officials and then died of the COVID-19 virus, was part of that group.
Ai said she also gave hospital authorities a heads-up about the virus.
“I even grabbed our hospital respiratory department director, who happened to be passing my office, and told him that one of his patients was confirmed to have been infected with a SARS-like virus,” Ai said to People magazine, the Post reported.
…doctors were not allowed to report cases that they encountered.
“It’s fairly easy to fill out the disease reporting form,” a doctor told Caixin. “When we get cases of hepatitis B or other severe infectious diseases, we can make a diagnosis directly on the computer, fill in the infectious disease report in a pop-up window and just click OK.” But “to do that, a diagnosis must be made,” the doctor said.
A law enforcement officer visited the hospital on January 12, Caixin reported and told medical staff that the infectious disease forms could only be completed and submitted with guidance from experts at the city and provincial levels.
The next day, Wang Wenyong, who leads infectious disease control at Wuhan’s Jianghan district disease control center, told Wuhan Central hospital to alter a suspected coronavirus report to say that patients were suffering from other illnesses.
The Chinese knew. They tried to arrogantly suffocate this news with a pillow. They kept medical staff in the dark. They strong-armed doctors who tried to save lives and do the right thing. Like all authoritarian governments, disasters of this scale cannot be allowed to happen. Look how long it took the Soviets to realize that Chernobyl was, uh, a HUGE problem. The same applies here. China didn’t want to look weak, powerless, and ineffective in a massive public health situation. They thought if they ignored it, it would go away. It didn’t. And now they’ve unleashed this mess onto the world. It was them.

Indiana Coronavirus School Updates: One District Closes For The Rest Of The School Year

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Indiana Coronavirus School Updates: One District Closes For The Rest Of The School Year
By Emma Kate Fittes, Dylan Peers McCoy

  March 17, 2020  -  Updated 7 hours ag

One district closes for the rest of the school year in response to coronavirus spread

A school district in southern Indiana is closing for the rest of the school year in response to the coronavirus, instead of shifting to three-day weeks of online classes.

South Dearborn school officials announced Wednesday that students would not be returning to schools after their spring break ends March 30. Instead, students will have an additional week off, followed by online learning Tuesday through Thursday for the remaining eight weeks of the school year. The district will use most of its 20 waiver days granted by the governor for the extra days off.

In a letter posted on the district’s website, Superintendent Eric Lows wrote that local health officials and school board members agreed that closing for the rest of the year “is in the best interest for the health and safety of our students, staff, and community.”

The district, located along the Kentucky border in Aurora, Indiana, appears to be the first in the state to announce it will close for the rest of the school year. Most schools across the country have announced temporary closures, but earlier this week, Kansas became the first state to close schools for the rest of the year in a more aggressive attempt to contain the coronavirus.

In Indiana, Gov. Eric Holcomb hasn’t mandated or pressed districts to close, though most have — including all Indianapolis public schools. Many tentatively plan to return in early April.

South Dearborn, which serves about 2,200 students, also canceled extracurricular activities through at least April 6, but administrators have yet to cancel the prom. The dance is currently scheduled for April 25. Administrators said they would reassess in early April.

“We understand the importance of prom for many of our high school students, especially our seniors,” Assistant Superintendent Chris Tanner said in an additional letter to parents.  “Thus, we are committed to try and provide this experience on the originally scheduled date.”

It wasn’t immediately clear how the extended closure would affect state testing in South Dearborn schools. The ILEARN testing window is scheduled to open on April 20. The state is seeking a federal waiver from mandated standardized testing in the wake of school closures.

🔗All Indiana public schools are now closed

All public school buildings in Indiana are closed, according to Gov. Eric Holcomb’s office. Schools are now either offering remote learning, on spring break or using waiver days granted by the governor.

While other states have closed all schools, Holcomb stopped short of mandating that districts close. But over the past two weeks, Indiana’s 289 traditional public districts have been slowly closing in response to the new coronavirus.

As of Monday, about 95% of charter schools were closed, and only 16 districts were not officially closed — most of which were on spring break, according to Indiana’s State Superintendent Jennifer McCormick.

In Marion County, schools are scheduled to remain closed through at least April 6, when many were scheduled to return from spring break. But the response to the crisis is changing rapidly, and, earlier this week, Kansas became the first state to cancel school for the rest of the academic year.

🔗Hammond bus aide tested positive for COVID-19, district says in letter to parents

The School City of Hammond has alerted parents that a bus monitor tested positive for COVID-19.

The northwest Indiana district with around 12,800 students is closed for at least three weeks. The bus monitor last worked on March 10, transporting small groups of students to the career center and other programs, according to a letter sent to families Tuesday. The person’s spouse is also a bus driver who was working through last week, the letter said, driving students at Charles N Scott Middle School and Maywood Elementary.

Corona Virus Press Release 3-17 Unofficial Confirmation – SCH has an unofficial confirmation (awaiting official confirmation from the State Dept. of Health) that a transportation dept employee has tested positive for the Corona Virus. #schk12 

Please click on the below to view: pic.twitter.com/7fb2gie5FN

— School City of Hammond (@SCHK12) March 17, 2020

District officials said students on the employees’ routes aren’t necessarily infected, but encouraged parents to contact their health care provider and monitor for symptoms. The bus monitor and their spouse are being quarantined for 14 days.

The district is still waiting for official confirmation of the case from the Indiana State Department of Health, the letter said.

FOOTNOTE: More than 200 of the state’s around 290 traditional public school districts have closed in response to COVID-19, according to a tweet from State Superintendent Jennifer McCormick.

 

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: The Current Administration Downplayed The Threat Of The Virus

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The Current Administration Downplayed The Threat Of The Virus

by Aulden Nance 

 A University Of Evansville Student

The current administration downplayed the threat of the virus numerous times. Instead of taking leadership, the President constantly lied to the American people about having the virus under control. As the leader of the free world, the President could have taken the bull by the horns and taken action. He did not because the following happened:

Since the first reported case of the virus as on January 21, the Administration had around fifty-days until the State of Emergency was declared by the President to be proactive about the situation. Due to the lack of action by the Administration, the virus had nearly a fifty-day head start to spread all over the country.

The federal government was prancing around and not responding. Take for example, on February 28 the President told his supporters at a rally the increasingly growing worry of the virus was the newest democratic hoax. At this point, more than 80,000 people worldwide had been diagnosed with Coronavirus. It is worth noting that a majority were in Wuhan, China but it is still alarming. A competent administration government would have been working since the very beginning of when the virus started to infect people in China to work with other countries and show leadership to the American People.

The constant lying and downplaying have given the virus a head start that is causing state officials to make decisions before the federal government. See, take a cousin virus to coronavirus: SARS- when the virus started to spread, it was taken very seriously, and the order was in store. As a result, entertainment services were not impacted, schools did not cancel classes, and most importantly, the virus was contained and only a few cases were reported in the United States.

Many college and high school seniors will not be getting proper graduation now. Their educational career will not be recognized in the traditional way. Due to the school closings, millions of children now have to hope their school district is providing meals for them, as more than an estimated twenty million children rely on school meals every day. This forces millions of families to adjust their already hectic schedules that usually include a child being at school for half of the day. Now, these families are forced to explore other options such as a nanny or having a parent taking time off work to care for them.

Another failure of this administration has been the amount of action put forward in recognizing the virus, or more lack of it. While already discussing if the threat of the virus itself was legit, this caused the administration not to put forward any protections and precautions to combat the virus.

In turn, Governors, sports administrators, and local leaders were forced to make decisions before the administration would. Over a dozen states declared states of emergencies and suggested guidelines among crowd gatherings before the administration did. Sports administrators had to decide to postpone the NBA season and cancel the NCAA tournament before the government recommended any guidelines about social distancing or gatherings.

Now, millions of people are concerned about what the future holds for their lives in the next few months. Millions are out of work and must rely on savings or having a generous boss. Worldwide, thousands have already passed due to this virus. Though many of them are elderly, it does not matter what age or nationality they are. It is good that their life was long, but they have now robbed another opportunity to see their children and grandchildren. With the closings of bars and restaurants, many local owners are now left in a kerfuffle on how to pay their employees and pay the bills.

This could have all been avoided, or at the very least, contained to very minimal damage. The failure and lack of leadership of this administration have caused a great deal of inconvenience for millions of people.

FOOTNOTE: THIS LETTER WAS POSTED BT THE CCO WITHOUT OPINION, BIAS OR EDITING

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