Gov. Eric Holcomb said during a press conference Wednesday that state COVID-19 restrictions for social gatherings will be relaxed beginning Monday.
The new executive order decreasing restrictions will last through Feb. 28. The changes in restrictions are because of the recent decrease in positive cases in the state, according to Holcomb.
Holcomb said Indiana’s 7-day positivity rate has been improving. The latest positivity rate update is 8.9% and includes data from Jan. 15 to Jan. 21, according to the Indiana COVID-19 Dashboard.
Related: [Read more COVID-19 coverage here]
Counties are sorted into color-coded metrics depending on their positivity rate. Color-coded maps of the counties can be found on the Indiana COVID-19 Dashboard. Monroe County is one of the eight counties in yellow on the color-coded map, meaning people will be able to gather in groups up to 50% of total capacity, but Mayor John Hamilton’s executive order limiting gatherings to 15 people is still in effect in Bloomington.
The county’s COVID-19 status determines how large social gatherings can be.
Counties in the red or orange categories will be able to organize social gatherings and events reaching 25% of the venue’s capacity. This will replace the current measure limiting gatherings to 25 people.
Previous rules for yellow counties limited gatherings to 100 people, but they will now be allowed to gather at 50% of a venue’s capacity. Blue counties can reach 100% capacity with social distancing and face coverings, but no counties have reached the blue level yet, according to the dashboard.
