(La Porte, IN) - It appears La Porte County will tighten COVID-19 restrictions in response to rising cases and hospitals at, or near capacity.
Dr. James Leonard from Northwest Health said all of their hospitals in La Porte, Valparaiso and Knox are at capacity. If cases keep climbing at current rates heading into winter, “we will actually be beyond our capacity to safely care for these patients and we’ll be looking downstate to get some help,” he said.
More than 90-percent of the beds have been occupied for much of the past six weeks at Franciscan Health outside Michigan City, said Dean Mazzoni, President and Chief Executive officer at the hospital. Mazzoni said about 30-percent of his beds are taken by COVID-19 patients, a rate higher than even at the start of the pandemic. “We are definitely heading down a path that’s not a good one for us,” he said.
The Indiana State Department of Health reported Tuesday the number of people testing positive for the virus the past seven days in La Porte County was 12.1-percent. Leonard said the positivity rate was the highest it’s ever been in LaPorte County. “More and more folks are contracting the virus,” he said.
La Porte Mayor Tom Dermody proposed tightening restrictions countywide and received support from Michigan City Mayor Duane Parry along with every member of the La Porte County Council and the La Porte County Commission. His plan includes tougher enforcement of the existing countwide mask mandate and restricting dine-in service at restaurants and bars serving food to either 75-percent or 50-percent capacity.
Bars providing strictly alcohol would be at a 50-percent capacity limit. Retail establishments would be capped at no more than two or three customers inside for every 1,000 square feet. Gyms and fitness centers would have to provide adequate space for social distancing. Weddings and other social gatherings would not be able to exceed 150 or 250 people.
“For lack of a better term, things are blowing up here in our local community,” Dermody said. He said the idea is to keep people safe, not overrun local hospitals and keep the economy moving until there’s a vaccine, which might not be readily available until sometime next year. “There’s a light at the end of the tunnel. Unfortunately, that tunnel might be a little bit out there,” he said.
On Tuesday, the LaPorte County Commissioners voted to work with both mayors on arriving at the final restrictions. The restrictions would go into effect if authorized by LaPorte County Health Officer Sandra Deausy.
Deausy expressed support for rolling back restrictions. “It’s frightening. The numbers are terrible. We need to move forward with this,” she said.
