INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Starting Tuesday, Indiana residents and visitors will find that masks will be required in some places, but not others.
There will be a patchwork of regulations when the state’s mask mandate becomes advisory.
Porter County will no longer require masks, but recommend them.
LaPorte and St. Joseph counties will continue the mandate.
Lake County has not yet made an announcement, except to say masks will be required in government buildings.
South Bend Mayor James Mueller, who favors an advisory over a mandate, told WSBT it’s a "distinction without a practical difference."
"We're fighting about words, and if you look back at the level of enforcement that's been done, even during the height of the pandemic -- the high waves of infections -- there was not a huge appetite for strict enforcement."
Some have criticized Governor Eric Holcomb’s decision as a political one, not based on science.
“It’s not mission accomplished. Yes, there’s some personal responsibility,” Holcomb said.
Businesses are free to require masks.
And individual towns are also making decisions ahead of Tuesday, when the mask mandate ends.