Indiana’s state health commissioner is warning Hoosiers not to read too much into the recent drop in new COVID-19 cases.
“I want to emphasize that while these numbers are lower than what we’ve seen recently, they likely reflect the fact, though, that we’ve had a long holiday weekend, which means that cases are still in the process of being reported,” Dr. Kris Box said during Wednesday’s COVID-19 briefing. “We should not get a false sense of security or assume that these numbers will remain low. It is far too soon to draw these conclusions.”
Box said she’s cautiously optimistic with the numbers, but said the state could “absolutely” have a second wave, if residents don’t continue to take precautions. “I saw reports from around Indiana and the rest of the country this weekend of people who were packed in pools or at restaurants, shoulder to shoulder and without masks, not practicing social distancing,” Box said. “We do not want to see that number of cases spike because people got tired of these precautions and treated this kind of as an unofficial start to summer and business as usual. These are not business-as-usual times.”
To those who believe the state should immediately reopen the rest of the way, Governor Eric Holcomb said he’ll continue to appeal to their sense of civic duty, “Not just their personal responsibility, but how their liberty can impact someone else’s. And that’s the bottom line with us here. We’re trying to get through this as safe and swift as possible, and we’re a state that’s done, dare I say, a pretty good job at keeping the balance,” Holcomb said.
Box noted that it can take several days before the impact of advancing to new stages of the governor’s Back on Track plan is seen in the number of cases.
She added that the next phase of testing in the IU Fairbanks School of Public Health’s study of COVID-19’s prevalence is set to start next week. Box urged those who get invited to take part, to help researchers get an accurate representation.
