In his weekly COVID-19 press release last Friday, Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton announced that Monroe County and Bloomington’s restrictions on gatherings and mask mandates will remain in place, despite statewide restrictions being loosened and the county having a comparably low infection rate.
As vaccines are rolling out faster than originally thought, as evidenced by Governor Eric Holcomb’s announcement that Indiana residents 16 and older will have the opportunity to be vaccinated beginning March 31, statewide mask mandates and social distancing restrictions have been relaxed, following the trend of several other states such as Texas and Florida.
In his announcement, Hamilton stated that “we don’t think it’s time to open up yet” and urged citizens to “report” any gathering that exceed the city’s 15 person limit to the police. He also announced that large parts of Kirkwood will be closed “for this Spring through June.”
Reactions to this announcement have been mixed, with some residents perplexed by the decision in light of the data putting Monroe County at a relatively low risk in comparison to other counties in the state, and others in agreement, citing the safety of citizens resulting from keeping the measures in place. Brian Shockney, the IU Health South Central Region President, spoke out in support of the decision, namely supporting the “great efforts to keep prevalence and risk low.”
No timeline on when these restrictions may be abolished or relaxed was given. Monroe County Health Department Administrator Penny Caudill vaguely stated that “We will continue to look at our numbers, keep our eye on that finish line, and we will adapt and make changes as those numbers improve.”
Hamilton also announced that the primary vaccination site for the county will be moving to Assembly Hall from the Monroe County Convention Center.
