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ELKHART, Ind. — Covid-19 cases in Elkhart County are skyrocketing at a record rate, local health officials have called the situation dire. Cases, hospitalizations and deaths have all increased over the past week, and with no end in sight, many in the county are not entirely sure what next steps are.
“Elkhart County is pretty much out of control,” said health official Lydia Mertz.
The county has recorded 1,800 cases of Covid-19 in the last week alone! Hospitalizations have jumped to 104 and four more deaths have been recorded, bringing the total to 161 since March. It’s an unfortunate situation that has led Elkhart County health official Lydia Mertz to call on those in the county who do not take the virus seriously.
“There is no way to make it sound good, there are just too many people in the county ignoring everything we have told them about mitigating the spread of Covid,” Mertz said.
So, what is there to do at this point?
Safety instructions have been and continue to be emphasized, but too many residents have ignored the severity of this virus. Community leaders, like Elkhart County Commissioner Mike Yoder, believe the only way to convince residents is to strengthen enforcement of the rules for those who do not follow mitigation procedures.
“The only thing left for us to do is to step up enforcement. So we plan to strengthen the enforcement of all the requirements of the health ordinance, this will take additional resources from everyone in the county and cities, ”Yoder says.
The commissioner understands how grim things look right now, but he also understands that the entire county has been warned about it by local health officials every step of the way.
“Earlier this year they kept throwing, and we couldn’t be that bad, we were going to peak and start going down. Well, we’re still waiting for the peak this time around, and we’re still hitting higher and higher numbers. I guess you could say that the doctors have warned about this and it’s happening now, ”Yoder said.
When community leaders are unsure of the next steps it can be frightening, but the county has been told what it needs to do to improve conditions.
Wash your hands, social distancing and wear a mask, but most of all take this virus very, very seriously.
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