Business Owners: What You Need to Know Right Now About COVID-19 (October 2020)
Vigo County, Ind. – As COVID-19 cases in West Central Indiana continue to rise, Vigo County Health Commissioner Dr. Darren Brucken is continuing to speak out about the importance of mask wearing and social distancing.
“Masking and social distancing are the ONLY tools that we have at our disposal to keep COVID from spreading person-to-person,” he tells the Chamber. “Violations of either of those, most notably masking, is what continues the spread which is presently ‘rampant’.”
The Vigo County Health Department updated case numbers on October 20 which reported a total of 2,530 confirmed cases and 33 deaths related to COVID-19.
The Chamber has also received calls this week from local business owners concerned for the safety of their employees and customers. With contact tracing, a handful of local businesses have received calls from the Health Department about possible exposures within the last week. Some businesses have needed to quarantine after those possible exposures. Dr. Brucken again stresses the importance of mask wearing.
“As far as businesses go they really should just mandate masking of all employees and all visitors at all times without fail,” he tells the Chamber.
With Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas on the horizon, the Vigo County Health Department is releasing safety recommendations. Click here for Halloween information.
“I worry a lot more about Thanksgiving get togethers,” Dr. Brucken says. “The most troubling is how young people seemingly do very well with it, but they are infecting older people in their lives unknowingly that has led to increasing hospitalizations and death. We are filing up fast at both hospitals and the surrounding counties continue to send us really sick COVID patients. If people would just wear a mask at all times and stay away from each other in any situation where they are unmasked, this will go away.”
Dr. Brucken also referenced an article and sent it to the Chamber, “What to Know Before Socializing Indoors During the Pandemic“.
The Chamber has also released the COVID-19 Recovery Guide with continued information for local businesses.
Hand sanitizing stations, donated by Rose-Hulman Ventures, are still available free of charge to Chamber members and non-profit organizations.
