Holcomb supports local mask choices amid rise in COVID cases among kids
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Keeping kids in schools is getting more difficult with more kids testing positive for the coronavirus in Indiana.
The number of children who’ve tested positive for COVID-19 has risen significantly in the 30 days.
According to Dr. Kristina Box, commissioner of the Indiana State Department of Health, 1,500 children from newborns up to age 19 were infected July 25 with the virus; two weeks later, on Aug. 8, that number went up to 4,200 children.
Box says kids who are symptomatic or sent home from school for being a close contact will need to get tested for COVID-19.
“Kids that have been quarantined because of close contact and they weren’t masked, so they been sent home and now they want to be tested to get back into school. So, we recognize this and are working very hard to bring onboard another agency, not a state agency, but another group of health care professionals that could help us to do testing in schools,” Box said Wednesday.
Box says the state health department also is asking every single vaccine site to offer both vaccinations and COVID-19 testing.
Despite the rise in cases, Gov. Eric Holcomb says he’s satisfied with each county making its own decisions regarding mask mandates in Indiana. The Republican governor says he heard loud and clear over the last year about the need for local control.
“We’re not in the same place that we were over a year ago. We’ll continue back to making sure local communities and counties have the resources that they need and where we can help them help themselves,” Holcomb said Wednesday.
Holcomb says he knows what works, and that’s the vaccine.
Also on Wednesday, state officials announced a new commission will recommend improvements to Indiana’s public health system. Officials said that the health system continues to be the state’s “Achilles’ heel.”
The 15-member Governor’s Public Health Commission was established in a new executive order issued by Holcomb. It will examine the state’s preparedness for health emergencies, funding plans, governance models at the state and local levels, data collection measures, and adolescent health care access. The group’s goal is to make recommendations for changes that can be shared with the Indiana General Assembly and enacted through new policy during the 2023 legislative session.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.