Gov. Holcomb: Elkhart won't advance to stage 4, rest of state moves to 4.5

Governor Holcomb announced some changes to the Back on Track Indiana plan during his press conference Wednesday afternoon.

The state was expected to move to stage 5 on Saturday, but the number of positive cases compared to the number of tests performed has increased.

Instead of moving to stage 5, all Indiana counties except Elkhart will move to Stage 4.5 on Friday and through July 17.

Elkhart County will remain at Stage 4 through July 17.

“While most of our health indicators remain positive, our data indicates a need to be extra cautious, which is why we will pause much of our Back on Track roadmap,” Gov. Holcomb said. “I urge Hoosiers to maintain vigilance in social distancing and wearing masks so we can continue to reopen our state for business.”

As part of the modification of the Back on Track plan, the governor is allowing youth overnight camps to begin, fairs, festivals and parades may resume with extra safety measures, conventions can resume up to 250 people with safety measures, and horse racing can resume with 50-percent spectator capacity.

Stage 4.5 includes:

• Social gatherings following the CDC’s social distancing guidelines will be limited to up to 250 people. This limit applies to wedding receptions, parties, and other events where people are in close physical contact for extended periods of time, particularly indoors.
• Dining room food service may continue operations at up to 75 percent capacity as long as social distancing is observed. Bar seating in restaurants may continue operations at 50 percent capacity. Bars and nightclubs may continue operations open at 50 percent capacity as long as they adhere to social distancing guidelines.
• Cultural, entertainment and tourism sites may continue operations open at 50 percent capacity.
• Movie theaters, bowling alleys and similar facilities may continue operations open at 50 percent capacity.
• Amusement parks, water parks and similar facilities may continue operations open at 50 percent capacity. Reservations are encouraged to limit the number of customers at any one time.
• Raceways may continue operations open at 50 percent grandstand capacity.