NEW: Elkhart County's Health Officer has issued new public health orders as the county was given a "red" designation by the Indiana State Dept. of Health due to rising COVID-19 rates. Many of the action items in the order appear to mimic language already put in place by the state for counties designated as red.
A face mask mandate is outlined with information that includes an incremental enforcement structure that starts with a written warning and could escalate up to having the health department issue an order to close a business or issue a penalty of up to $2,500. Within the face mask mandate is a page worth of exceptions as to when a mask is not required.
A mitigation directive addressing the size of gatherings was also issued that contains a similar enforcement structure.
The orders go into effect at 12:01am on Wed., Nov. 19, 2020.
Read more about the face mask mandate here.
Read more about the mitigation directive here.
Read Dr. Mertz's media release here.
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Today the Elkhart Co. Health Department released a new set of data showing when and where COVID-19 has been surging. Nappanee, Bristol and New Paris are among the zip codes in the county that have seen the biggest increase in cases in the last week. And so far, the month of November in Elkhart County has seen skyrocketing numbers of cases.
(You can see the data provided by the Elkhart Co. Health Dept. below.)
