Community Leaders Optimistic About COVID Numbers
February 4, 2021 at 2:16 a.m.
Community Leaders Optimistic About COVID Numbers
By David [email protected]
Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer said the numbers “obviously are improving.” They’re improving so much, the city department heads met and decided to reopen city buildings. Masks, social distancing and handwashing are still required. City meetings will stay virtual, but people will not be discouraged from attending in person, though attendance numbers will be limited. He said Gov. Eric Holcomb has allowed virtual meetings through the end of February, and that may continue beyond that.
COVID testing at the Bowen Center’s test site at the county fairgrounds has gone down, Thallemer said. With the testing numbers on a downward trend, that has allowed Bowen Center to man a hotline about testing and vaccinations for people with technology and language challenges. That hotline number is 574-347-4256. The languages offered are English and Spanish.
Kosciusko County Health Department (KCHD) Communicable Disease Nurse Teresa Reed said the county had about 900 new cases around Thanksgiving at its peak, and there was a huge spike around Christmas. Those numbers have continued to go down. Last week in Kosciusko, there were 120 new cases “and that’s a lot less than the 900 cases.” She said she was optimistic about the numbers, but she wants people to remain cautious.
Dr. William Remington, KCHD health officer, said the number of vaccinations are up and cases are down, “so we’re very happy about that.” In Kosciusko County, about 5,000 vaccinations have been administered, with 4,500 alone in January. A growing number of pharmacies are offering the vaccinations, and Walgreens and CVS are federally contracted to deliver them to nursing homes and long-term care facilities.
At the KCHD vaccination clinic, Remington said about 500 doses a week were administered in the first three weeks. That is increasing Monday to 1,500 doses a week, “so that’s a big jump for us.”
Remington said KCHD staff is “really stepping up” and he was “really proud of them.” He said the vaccination clinic is working really well, with 360 doses administered Tuesday. Doses from the state continues to grow.
He thanked the volunteers at the clinic, particularly the volunteer nurses, and said the vaccination clinic has a warm and inviting atmosphere.
“This is a wonderful community to be operating in,” Remington said, also noting the county is at the orange designation level.
Asked about where to find locations that offer vaccinations, Remington said the “very best way” was the state website at ourshot.in.gov. A person can click on their county and click on a venue of their choice. They have to answer some questions to see if they are eligible, then can schedule a vaccination if they are. The website list changes almost every day, and a person can choose an out-of-county venue if they don’t find one in Kosciusko to their satisfaction. A person should get their second dose of the vaccine at the same location as their first.
Kurt Carlson, CEO of Bowen Center, said testing was down at their site. With testing numbers down, he said Bowen Center was able to offer the hotline in conjunction with the city of Warsaw and the K21 Health Foundation. In the first two days the hotline was offered, he said they had 15 calls with 12 of the callers getting registered for vaccinations. Three callers just had questions and were not ready to sign up. Of those, two were Hispanic.
Recognizing they needed to make more of an effort to reach out to the county’s Hispanic population, Carlson said they printed up brochures in Spanish and English and handed those out to various locations Tuesday. The brochures encourage people to get vaccinated and includes information about the hotline.
Thallemer praised the volunteers in the community, as well as the KCHD and Bowen Center. He said he was proud of the community, but people need to keep their heads down and get their vaccinations. This fall, people may be able to attend high school football games in person, if the trend continues.
Kosciusko County Commissioner Cary Groninger said, “Thank you to our community as a whole. We’re all in this together. We all need to be doing our part.” He said the health department, volunteers and many organizations are all doing a wonderful job, but it comes back to each individual doing theirs. Groninger said the county is starting to see a positive trend and “we all need to be thankful for that. It’ll soon be in our rearview mirror hopefully and we’ll get back to normal.”
Asked about how schools are faring at the midpoint of the school year, Reed said overall schools are doing pretty well. Schools are safe and stable inside, and they have taken the necessary precautions. She said the state recently put out a alert that there will be some changes regarding schools, but “we don’t know what those will be.”
“The schools have done a great job. They have taken care of a lot of these things. They know what they’re doing and know who needs to be taken out,” she said.
Asked when everyone of any age might be able to get vaccinated, Remington said he knows the federal government has purchased 200 million more doses. He heard there would be a 15 to 20% weekly growth in vaccinations in the short term. Prognostication is very difficult, he acknowledged, but within a month those 60 and older may be able to sign up for vaccinations. This week, those 65 and older were able to sign up. Appointments go out as far as March at this point, but Remington suggested people should try the ourshot.in.gov website regularly for openings. His best guess was that everyone might be able to sign up by this spring.
Thallemer and Remington both said the county is constrained by the number of vaccinations it’s allocated. Holcomb approached the vaccinations by starting off with those at the highest risk, and Thallemer said that seems to be paying off.
Another question concerned the virus variants and if the county has been impacted by those. Remington said the variants are certainly a hot topic and probably will be a dominant one, it’s felt, within a few weeks. However, if a person has been immunized or already had COVID, there’s less of a concern. The variant strains seem to be more contagious, but the vaccinations seem to apply very well to them.
Carlson said he’s been hearing from people that they can’t wait to get signed up for the vaccination. Thallemer agreed, and said it appears the county is on the right path. While there’s a lot about the virus that’s not known yet, Thallemer said they’re learning more every day.
As for how businesses have fared in this pandemic, which is near the one-year mark since reaching Kosciusko County, Thallemer said businesses certainly have been impacted and some businesses have been lost.
“I can’t put a number to it, but I know we’re not unscathed. We speak with a lot of optimism today” because of vaccinations and numbers going down, Thallemer said, but it’s been a hard year and much has happened.
Groninger said local restaurants and the hospitality industry have been impacted by this virus and that’s been tragic. He said the county and city have made different loans available to businesses to help as much as they can. He said the county and the state have a lot to be thankful for, and manufacturing in the state has been able to prosper.
As a business owner himself, Groninger said all the concerns involved in the pandemic have been exhausting. Businesses probably will operate differently because of the pandemic, but that could have some positive effects. “We have a lot to be thankful for in Kosciusko County,” he said.
Thallemer said nonprofits and businesses, especially restaurants and bars, have had to go through a lot this year and he hopes and prays they’ve been able to keep their lights on. With the numbers improving, he suggested the county may be at a point where people can help businesses stay in business by patronizing them.
“I hope that some of the stimulus from the federal government will help these businesses. At the end of the day, I hope our rate of business loss is not high,” Thallemer said.
He asked, “Please, please remember to support our local businesses in their time of difficulty.”
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Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer said the numbers “obviously are improving.” They’re improving so much, the city department heads met and decided to reopen city buildings. Masks, social distancing and handwashing are still required. City meetings will stay virtual, but people will not be discouraged from attending in person, though attendance numbers will be limited. He said Gov. Eric Holcomb has allowed virtual meetings through the end of February, and that may continue beyond that.
COVID testing at the Bowen Center’s test site at the county fairgrounds has gone down, Thallemer said. With the testing numbers on a downward trend, that has allowed Bowen Center to man a hotline about testing and vaccinations for people with technology and language challenges. That hotline number is 574-347-4256. The languages offered are English and Spanish.
Kosciusko County Health Department (KCHD) Communicable Disease Nurse Teresa Reed said the county had about 900 new cases around Thanksgiving at its peak, and there was a huge spike around Christmas. Those numbers have continued to go down. Last week in Kosciusko, there were 120 new cases “and that’s a lot less than the 900 cases.” She said she was optimistic about the numbers, but she wants people to remain cautious.
Dr. William Remington, KCHD health officer, said the number of vaccinations are up and cases are down, “so we’re very happy about that.” In Kosciusko County, about 5,000 vaccinations have been administered, with 4,500 alone in January. A growing number of pharmacies are offering the vaccinations, and Walgreens and CVS are federally contracted to deliver them to nursing homes and long-term care facilities.
At the KCHD vaccination clinic, Remington said about 500 doses a week were administered in the first three weeks. That is increasing Monday to 1,500 doses a week, “so that’s a big jump for us.”
Remington said KCHD staff is “really stepping up” and he was “really proud of them.” He said the vaccination clinic is working really well, with 360 doses administered Tuesday. Doses from the state continues to grow.
He thanked the volunteers at the clinic, particularly the volunteer nurses, and said the vaccination clinic has a warm and inviting atmosphere.
“This is a wonderful community to be operating in,” Remington said, also noting the county is at the orange designation level.
Asked about where to find locations that offer vaccinations, Remington said the “very best way” was the state website at ourshot.in.gov. A person can click on their county and click on a venue of their choice. They have to answer some questions to see if they are eligible, then can schedule a vaccination if they are. The website list changes almost every day, and a person can choose an out-of-county venue if they don’t find one in Kosciusko to their satisfaction. A person should get their second dose of the vaccine at the same location as their first.
Kurt Carlson, CEO of Bowen Center, said testing was down at their site. With testing numbers down, he said Bowen Center was able to offer the hotline in conjunction with the city of Warsaw and the K21 Health Foundation. In the first two days the hotline was offered, he said they had 15 calls with 12 of the callers getting registered for vaccinations. Three callers just had questions and were not ready to sign up. Of those, two were Hispanic.
Recognizing they needed to make more of an effort to reach out to the county’s Hispanic population, Carlson said they printed up brochures in Spanish and English and handed those out to various locations Tuesday. The brochures encourage people to get vaccinated and includes information about the hotline.
Thallemer praised the volunteers in the community, as well as the KCHD and Bowen Center. He said he was proud of the community, but people need to keep their heads down and get their vaccinations. This fall, people may be able to attend high school football games in person, if the trend continues.
Kosciusko County Commissioner Cary Groninger said, “Thank you to our community as a whole. We’re all in this together. We all need to be doing our part.” He said the health department, volunteers and many organizations are all doing a wonderful job, but it comes back to each individual doing theirs. Groninger said the county is starting to see a positive trend and “we all need to be thankful for that. It’ll soon be in our rearview mirror hopefully and we’ll get back to normal.”
Asked about how schools are faring at the midpoint of the school year, Reed said overall schools are doing pretty well. Schools are safe and stable inside, and they have taken the necessary precautions. She said the state recently put out a alert that there will be some changes regarding schools, but “we don’t know what those will be.”
“The schools have done a great job. They have taken care of a lot of these things. They know what they’re doing and know who needs to be taken out,” she said.
Asked when everyone of any age might be able to get vaccinated, Remington said he knows the federal government has purchased 200 million more doses. He heard there would be a 15 to 20% weekly growth in vaccinations in the short term. Prognostication is very difficult, he acknowledged, but within a month those 60 and older may be able to sign up for vaccinations. This week, those 65 and older were able to sign up. Appointments go out as far as March at this point, but Remington suggested people should try the ourshot.in.gov website regularly for openings. His best guess was that everyone might be able to sign up by this spring.
Thallemer and Remington both said the county is constrained by the number of vaccinations it’s allocated. Holcomb approached the vaccinations by starting off with those at the highest risk, and Thallemer said that seems to be paying off.
Another question concerned the virus variants and if the county has been impacted by those. Remington said the variants are certainly a hot topic and probably will be a dominant one, it’s felt, within a few weeks. However, if a person has been immunized or already had COVID, there’s less of a concern. The variant strains seem to be more contagious, but the vaccinations seem to apply very well to them.
Carlson said he’s been hearing from people that they can’t wait to get signed up for the vaccination. Thallemer agreed, and said it appears the county is on the right path. While there’s a lot about the virus that’s not known yet, Thallemer said they’re learning more every day.
As for how businesses have fared in this pandemic, which is near the one-year mark since reaching Kosciusko County, Thallemer said businesses certainly have been impacted and some businesses have been lost.
“I can’t put a number to it, but I know we’re not unscathed. We speak with a lot of optimism today” because of vaccinations and numbers going down, Thallemer said, but it’s been a hard year and much has happened.
Groninger said local restaurants and the hospitality industry have been impacted by this virus and that’s been tragic. He said the county and city have made different loans available to businesses to help as much as they can. He said the county and the state have a lot to be thankful for, and manufacturing in the state has been able to prosper.
As a business owner himself, Groninger said all the concerns involved in the pandemic have been exhausting. Businesses probably will operate differently because of the pandemic, but that could have some positive effects. “We have a lot to be thankful for in Kosciusko County,” he said.
Thallemer said nonprofits and businesses, especially restaurants and bars, have had to go through a lot this year and he hopes and prays they’ve been able to keep their lights on. With the numbers improving, he suggested the county may be at a point where people can help businesses stay in business by patronizing them.
“I hope that some of the stimulus from the federal government will help these businesses. At the end of the day, I hope our rate of business loss is not high,” Thallemer said.
He asked, “Please, please remember to support our local businesses in their time of difficulty.”
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