Posted Wednesday, December 15, 2021.

HUNTINGTON – The City of Huntington took a procedural step Tuesday to align its COVID-19 guidelines with accumulating data showing the vaccines’ effectiveness in preventing severe illness and hospitalizations.

Executive Order No. 8, signed Tuesday by Mayor Richard Strick, acknowledges that 46.2 percent of Huntington County residents age 5 or older are fully vaccinated. In addition, Indiana Department of Health data show that more than 94 percent of statewide hospitalizations in November related to COVID-19 are unvaccinated individuals.

The new executive order is the fourth revision to Executive Order No. 4, which went into effect in November 2020 and established capacity restrictions, masking requirements and other mitigation strategies tied to Huntington County’s advisory level on the state’s COVID-19 country metrics map. Each revision has lifted or reduced restrictions enacted in Executive Order No. 4 as vaccines became more widely available. The most recent change eliminates any remaining capacity limits, masking requirements and other restrictions that were statutorily left in place at a “red” advisory level.

Huntington County became “red” this past Wednesday on the state’s COVID-19 map, which assigns a metric score based on new cases per 100,000 people and seven-day positivity rates within a county.

While these metrics reveal where COVID-19 is spreading in our community and spread of the virus remains a threat to unvaccinated individuals, data regarding hospitalizations and severe disease is guiding our community response in coordination with the Huntington County Health Department. All currently available data from reliable sources indicate that the COVID-19 vaccine schedule remains the most effective deterrent to hospitalization and severe disease. As such, we continue to recommend a layered defense against COVID-19: get vaccinated, improve ventilation, wash hands regularly and mask when needed.

Poorly ventilated indoor spaces are high risk areas for the virus to spread. Huntington County’s public health officer has said that settings such as break rooms, family gatherings and weddings have been notorious for outbreaks.

Huntington’s COVID-19 testing is located next to Cardinal Family Medicine at 225 Hauenstein Road. Appointments can be scheduled online at scheduling.coronavirus.in.gov.

Vaccination appointments can be made through the Huntington County Health Department at vaccine.coronavirus.in.gov, online at ourshot.in.gov or by visiting any local pharmacy. Everyone 5 and older is eligible to be vaccinated, and the CDC recommends a booster for anyone 16 or older. See www.cdc.gov/coronavirus for additional eligibility information.

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