Elkhart County’s health officer said she feels the state department of health’s COVID-19 metrics for the county are “slightly deceiving.”
At the county board of health meeting Thursday night, Dr. Bethany Wait said that while Elkhart County is in the state’s “yellow” designation, which indicates moderate spread of the virus, the county’s positivity rate has risen steadily over the last few weeks.
“Historically, we’ve kind of started the trend for the state. If we start seeing increases in positivity, the rest of the state then does too,” Wait said.
With Governor Eric Holcomb’s announcement this week that the statewide mask mandate will end on April 6, Wait said she’s been in communication with county officials about how to proceed with Elkhart County’s own mask mandate.
For the meantime, Wait said she still encourages masking and distancing in social settings until the majority of the county is fully vaccinated.
“This virus still very much has the potential for us to go in the wrong direction and surge again," Wait said. "I think we have to be respectful of that, and that will be the health department’s stance on the whole situation.”
Contact Gemma atgdicarlo@wvpe.orgor follow her on Twitter at@gemma_dicarlo.
If you appreciate this kind of journalism on your local NPR station, please support it by donatinghere.
