Gov. Eric Holcomb, NCAA president Mark Emmert, Indianapolis mayor Joe Hogsett are among those to talk about Indy’s role as March Madness host.
Indianapolis Star
Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett and county health officials Thursday issued a plea to residents and local businesses to keep taking steps to slow the spread of COVID-19, as a series of high-profile basketball tournaments tip off during the next month.
Using a basketball metaphor, Hogsett said we all need to keep wearing masks, practicing social distancing, and washing our hands, in other words, “practicing the fundamentals.”
“We have all had a year of practice to prepare for this final stretch,” he said. “Remember what made this month possible in the first place and keep to the basics.”
The nation will be watching Indianapolis in the coming weeks, Hogsett said.
‘If you’re a spectator… I will know who you are’: March Madness contact tracing plan will be ‘robust,’ Marion County officials promise
Some public health officials have doubted the wisdom of encouraging visitors to Indianapolis from around the country, especially with relatively new COVID-19 variants in circulation.
The message today from county leaders: If we all do our part, we can show that Indianapolis can safely host a major event.
“I want Indianapolis, and I know you do too, to be in the winner’s circle,” Hogsett said.
While the Marion County Health Department will step up surveillance during the coming weeks, most local business owners have become adept at ensuring their customers follow safety regulations, Hogsett said.
More: What Indy Mayor Joe Hogsett and health officials said at Thursday’s county COVID-19 update
Businesses understand that “short term we’ve got to really make some inroads on that young, college group because of the rise we’re starting to see gain is long term pain,” he said, adding that he would like to see them be both prosperous and responsible.
The tournaments come as the county’s COVID-19 numbers are trending in all the right directions, Marion County Public Health Department Director Dr. Virginia A. Caine said. For three weeks the county’s COVID-19 positivity rate has sat below 5%, the level at which health officials consider community spread to be moderate. Currently the positivity rate is at 2.9%.
However, the number of new cases each day is still much higher than Caine would like, she said. Currently the seven-day average is more than 100 new cases a day. She’d like to see it reach the “gold standard” of less than 35.
Meanwhile, about 9% of the city’s population is fully vaccinated, she said. Just under 50% of those 80 and up are vaccinated and 45% of those 70 to 79.
More: Indy high schools can go back to full-time in-person classes for the first time in a year
And, just as the college basketball tournaments are beginning, Marion County is seeing a rise in cases among its young adult population. After cases declined for all age groups through February, at the beginning of this month, new cases among college students started to climb.
“We’ve got to really make some inroads on that young, college group because of the rise we’re starting to see,” she said.
But Caine said that she was not as concerned about the thousands of fans flooding into Indianapolis for the NCAA Men’s Division 1 tournament as she was about spring break plans. She urged those who planned to vacation in the coming weeks to check the city’s travel advisory page and consider quarantining if they’re going to a comparative hot spot.
Contact IndyStar reporter Shari Rudavsky at [email protected]. Follow her on Facebook and on Twitter: @srudavsky.
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