CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Indiana State Department of Health said there will be no mask mandates for schools or public employees as the delta variant becomes dominant and its COVID-19 numbers are essentially where they were a year ago.
The state's Health Commissioner Dr. Kristina Box said they've heard loud and clear from elected officials and schools that they want to make decisions themselves. And while masks are strongly encouraged, there will be no mandates.
"I know many Hoosiers have different beliefs about masks, the vaccine and the pandemic as a whole. What I hope is that we all share a personal responsibility to do no harm to others. Until we increase our vaccination rates and unless we use every tool available to us to stop the spread of disease, this virus will continue to have the advantage. It will continue to mutate and we will be constantly playing whack-a-mole for the foreseeable future," Box told WBBM Newsradio.
Dr. Box said just over half of the state's residents have been vaccinated but just 21% of 12- to 15-year-olds and 34% of 16- to 19-year-olds. Ninety-eight percent of the new cases involve the unvaccinated and 96% of the deaths.
Related
