Washington County Sheriff Brent Miller released a statement earlier this afternoon reminding residents that the Governer’s mask mandate will go into effect on Monday, July 27. 

According to Gov. Holcom’s office, the order will be in effect until at least August 26. 

Miller said officers will not be enforcing the mandate and no officers will be dispatched for the sole purpose of an individual failing to wear a mask in public. 

“It is a stance of the Washington County Sheriff’s Department that the refusal of the individual to wear a mask does not constitute a crime enforceable by the Sheriff’s Department,” said Miller, who noted the department has received voluminous calls about this topic in the past 48 hours. 

Miller said if anyone wants to report a violation of the mask mandate, they need to call the Indiana State Health Department at 877-826-0011 between 8a and 5p daily. 

“Whether or not you support the mask mandate is not a factor in our enforcement of the law,” Miller wrote in the statement. “However, certain laws may apply in the situation.”

Miller said in the State of Indiana, any business or private organization may ask a person to leave the premises at any time, for any reason. 

“I would encourage you to keep in mind that if you are asked to leave a business, you are bound by law to do so under the Criminal Trespass statute of the State of Indiana,” Miller added. “Deputies will enforce the Criminal Trespass statute and will respond to complaints of Criminal Trespass and deal with issues that arise from this situation.”

Miller said he would remind all residents to be respectful in their interactions and treat each other with respect and to respect the laws of the State of Indiana. 

“Doing so will avert any such incidents,” said Miller. “Please work together so that we may get through this as trouble-free as possible. Thank you for your cooperation and God Bless everyone.”

Holcomb’s office said state and local health departments will be responsible for enforcing compliance through education about the importance of wearing face coverings.

The executive order does not include criminal penalties although he said during a press conference on Wednesday that not wearing a mask would result in a Class B Misdemeanor. 

The executive order also outlines the requirements for mask-wearing in schools.

Gov. Holcomb has used data to drive decisions since the state’s first case of the novel coronavirus in early March. At this time, the state faces:

• An increase in overall hospitalizations from approximately 600 a day near the end of June to approximately 800 now
• The highest number of cases in a single day with 1,011 Hoosiers reported positive today
• A rise in COVID-19 positivity across the state from a low of 3.6% a month ago to nearly double that percentage now
• Some counties, which early on had minimal positive cases in some instances, now reporting regular double-digit positive cases

Orleans Town Marshal Richard Dixon is reminding residents Orleans students will resume classes on Wednesday, August 5.

“Please be alert to the presence of children walking to and from school along with the increased traffic from students who drive to school,” Marshal Dixon added.

“As winter approaches darkness will become a factor for students who ride the buses in the morning hours. We also ask motorists to be alert and cautious to the stop arms on the school buses as they stop to load or unload passengers. Please help make this a safe school year by diligently driving in a safe and alert manner to avoid a tragedy that can happen in a matter of seconds when drivers are distracted or inattentive.”

Marshal Dixon also reminds motorists the law changed on July 1 making it a violation to drive with an electronic device in your hand. Everyone is required to use hands-free technology to communicate while driving. 

The Indiana State Department of Health reported 954 new positive coronavirus cases Thursday, bringing the state’s total to 59,602. Those new cases were reported to ISDH in the last 24 hours.

This was a new record number of new COVID-19 cases for the state.

The highest daily total the state had reported was 946 new cases on April 26.

ISDH also announced an additional 17 confirmed deaths from COVID-19, bringing Indiana’s total to 2,683. Another 197 probable deaths have been reported based on clinical diagnoses in patients for whom no positive test is on record.

Deaths are reported based on when data are received by ISDH and occurred over multiple days.   

Beginning Monday, all Hoosiers ages 8 and older must wear masks at indoor public places, while using public transportation and when they cannot social distance outside.

Governor Eric Holcomb will sign the order today.

Numbers locally:

48 NEW CASES IN OUR LOCAL AREA

• Lawrence County

3927 Tests, 287 Cases, 26 Deaths – 4 new cases

• Jackson County

4269 Tests, 514 Cases, 3 deaths – 4 new cases

• Jennings County

1854 Tests, 188 Cases, 12  deaths 0 new cases

• Orange County

1531 Tests, 153 Cases, 24 deaths – 3 new cases

• Washington County

1632 Tests, 78 Cases, 1 death, 1 new case

• Scott County

2996 Tests, 207 Cases, 9  deaths  –  5 new cases

• Clark County

9586 Tests, 840 Cases, 45 deaths – 19  new cases 

• Floyd County

6958 Tests, 522 Cases, 44 deaths, 12 new case

• Harrison County

3046 Tests, 235 Cases, 22 deaths  0 new cases

• Crawford County

754 Tests, 37 Cases, 0 deaths – 0 new cases

In Washington County, there has been an 8.3 percent increase in cases over the past week. 

Recently it was discussed that Washington County only had the capacity to perform only 10 Covid tests per week. 

“That information wasn’t fully correct. I have been told that between the hospital’s ER and their MD offices, those combined can only have 10 tests per day,” said Washington County Health Nurse Alicia Thompson. “This way the lab that they send them to is not overwhelmed.  We have other facilities in Washington County that also do CoVid testing. None of the sites is ISDH’s OptumServe site though.”

Ascension St. Vincent Salem confirmed they have been sending between 6 and 10 tests daily for testing. 

It is not known how many tests other offices are collecting. 

Increases in cases in other areas include: 

Lawrence County – 7.8 percent increase in the last week. 

Jackson County – 5.1 percent increase in the last week. 

Jennings County – 2.7 percent increase in the last week. 

Orange County – 6.2 percent increase in the last week. 

Washington County – 8.3 percent increase in the last week. 

Scott County – 14.3 percent in the last week. 

Clark County – 12 percent in the last week. 

Floyd County – 14.4 percent in the last week. 

Harrison County – 4.4 percent in the last week. 

Crawford County – 2.7 percent in the last week. 

To date, 666,283 tests have been reported to ISDH, up from 654,413 on Wednesday.