Indiana governor breaks with GOP peers, allows local mask mandates

Source: The Hill | August 16, 2021 | Mychael Schnell

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb (R) broke with some of his Republican peers on Monday, telling reporters that schools implementing mask mandates are “making a wise decision when the facts warrant it.”

A number of Republican governors have issued orders in recent weeks barring schools from enforcing mask mandates despite the surge of COVID-19 cases throughout the U.S., which is being driven largely by the highly infectious delta variant.

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Holcomb, however, broke from his GOP peers on Monday when he expressed support for the mask mandates in schools.

“I think the schools that are putting mask mandates into place are making a wise decision when the facts warrant it,” Holcomb told reporters, according to The Associated Press.

He dismissed the opposition against the controversial GOP stance, saying “I’m not surprised by the pushback having lived through the last year and a half.”

Holcomb, however, said he would not go as far as to enforce a statewide mask mandate, but would instead give local authorities, schools and businesses the authority to implement such a measure if they wish, NBC 13 WTHR reported.

The number of COVID-19 infections in Indiana steadily increased in the beginning of August, before dipping slightly this weekend, according to the Indiana COVID-19 Data Report. The state has seen more than 803,000 positive coronavirus cases since the beginning of the pandemic.

More than 1,400 new COVID-19 cases were reported among students, ranging from kindergarten through 12th grade, in the past week, which was four times the number recorded in the previous week, according to the state’s COVID-19 data report.

Eighty teachers have also tested positive for the virus in the past two weeks.

Hospitals in the state are now seeing more patients with COVID-19, with hospitalization rates rising to the likes last seen in February, according to the AP.

Holcomb told reporters that all of the 137 new COVID-19 patients being treated in intensive care units in the state last week were unvaccinated, using the jarring statistic as an opportunity to promote getting inoculated.

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