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Masking again required in county buildings starting Wednesday
With the current surge of COVID-19 cases in the community, Putnam County government will again mandate masking in county buildings beginning on Wednesday, Jan. 19.
The Putnam County Commissioners made the decision in a 2-1 vote Tuesday morning to require masks as long as the county remains in the red advisory level as determined by the Indiana State Department of Health.
While the county is in the red, any constituent coming into a county building must wear a mask. Disposable masks will be available at the door.
County employees must wear masks when interacting with the public or when they cannot adequately social distance from co-workers.
Additionally, any employees whose jobs require them to be out in public in the course of their duties should also be masked.
Greencastle Community Schools announced a similar policy last week, also tying its mask requirement to the county rating.
The county decision was the subject of some discussion before the vote, with Commissioner David Berry saying he did not believe the move was necessary and Commissioner Tom Helmer saying something needed to happen.
Ultimately, Commissioner President Rick Woodall, knowing he would be the swing vote, made the motion to return to masks, which Helmer seconded.
With the rule now tied to the county’s ISDH advisory level, the Commissioners will not have to rescind it when the current spike ends nor reinstitute it in the event of future surges.
The most recent advisory level – released last Wednesday – had Putnam in the red for the third straight week, with cases still climbing.
For the week ending Jan. 10 at 11:59 p.m., Putnam had reported 907 cases per 100,000 residents and a positivity rate of 24.69 percent.
More recent numbers, though not official until Wednesday, suggest a continued increase for the week that ended Monday, Jan. 17.
Putnam’s numbers for the two metrics that determine the ratings are well beyond the minimum for a red rating — 200 cases per 100,000 and 15 percent positivity. Additionally, numbers must actually be below the threshold for two straight weeks before a rating is changed.
Taken in full, the data suggests that the masking policy is likely to remain in place for a few weeks at a minimum.
Putnam County Health Department officials, who were at Tuesday’s meeting for an unrelated matter, were asked their thoughts on the matter.
“Omicron is extremely communicable. It lies right in the throat, so when you’re talking, you’re spreading it,” Public Health Nurse Sara Burnett noted
Preparedness coordinator Brian Williams added that this surge has actually been the worst of the pandemic in terms of the spread of the disease, though the severity of the illness has lessened, particularly among those vaccinated and boosted.
At one point in the conversation, it seemed the policy could only apply to constituents visiting county offices, but Woodall quashed this talk.
“If we require the constituents of the county to come in here and wear a mask, then how do you not make the employees of the county, if they’re interacting with the public, not wear a mask?” he asked.
Even with the masking policy now in place, other changes are likely coming to the county’s overall COVID-19 policy for employees, such as following the CDC guidelines on reducing isolation time from 10 to five days, as well as what “fully vaccinated” means in light of the availability of booster shots.
These questions are likely to be addressed in more detail at the next Commissioners meeting, which is set for Monday, Feb. 7 at 9 a.m. on the first floor of the Putnam County Courthouse.