Goshen News’ editor’s note: The Elkhart County Commissioners had an emergency session Tuesday morning and amended the enactment date of the civil fines ordinance to Dec. 17. We have changed the article to reflect that.
In a last-ditch effort to get people to comply with public health ordinances to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, the Elkhart County Commissioners passed a public health ordinance on Monday establishing incremental fine structures for repeated violations. The order will go into effect Dec. 17, following two weeks of publication, and the fines could reach up to $5,000.
The commissioners also immediately closed the Elkhart County Administration Building and the Elkhart County Public Services Building to the public. Both buildings are in Goshen. Business will be conducted by appointment only. Other county building administrators will post their admittance policies, and the courts will continue with their own restrictions.
“My perception is that the most critical activity that is taking on the community that’s creating this overburden at our hospitals is the large gatherings that (are) going on,” Commissioner Mike Yoder said, adding that this is a last-ditch effort on the part of the commissioners and the health department to get people to comply with the health order and slow the spread of COVID-19.
Click here to read the full story from Sheila Selman in the Goshen News.
Commissioner Suzanne Weirick said, “None of us came to this spot lightly. If we had thought there was any other way, we wouldn’t be considering this ordinance.”
She said people have ignored the county health orders and as a result the community has been impacted heavily by COVID.
This weekend, the county activated a refrigerated truck to help store bodies, she said. Goshen Health officials said Monday that its COVID patient count has dropped to 39, but that the positivity rate for those being tested for the virus has risen to 16.1 percent.
