Elkhart County’s health officer fears enacting a new state law will send dominoes tumbling to where county leaders could override local health orders amid another apparent resurgence of COVID-19 locally.
Dr. Bethany Wait expressed concerns Tuesday about a new trend of rising cases of the coronavirus, fueled by variant strains, and the effect it’s having on local hospitals. At the same time, she’s watching developments in the Indiana Legislature in which new legislation could ultimately doom the local facemask order.
The Elkhart County commissioners apparently intend to do that should the bill become law.
“If this bill goes into effect, we will lose our mask mandate in Elkhart County along with our capacity limitations in Elkhart County, which to me is extremely frightening,” Wait said of Indiana Senate Bill 5 at a news conference.
The measure, which cleared the General Assembly on Friday, would require local health officers to get approval from local governments to implement restrictions that exceed a governor’s executive orders during states of emergency.
Click here to read the full story from Aimee Ambrose in the Goshen News.
The bill has gone to Gov. Eric Holcomb for his decision on whether to sign it, veto it or take no action.
“It’s very concerning that this bill was passed,” Wait said. “And it’s very concerning to me that I have continually heard from the general community that our goals are to keep hospitals accessible, to keep schools open and to keep businesses open. Well, we’re at the point we’re at the brink of one of those three not being possible, but yet we’re not willing to keep a mask mandate or capacity limitations.”
