COVID forces Marion County to halt all jury trials until end of January
The executive committee of the courts issued an executive order Thursday, continuing all jury trials until after Jan. 28.
Health Care
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Roche lands $340M to make rapid antigen tests in Indianapolis
The contract is part of the U.S. government’s effort to double its procurement of rapid COVID-19 tests to be delivered for free to Americans through a forthcoming federal website.
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Catching COVID on a business trip can get complicated
Not only do you have to rearrange plans to visit customers or attend conferences, but you suddenly need to isolate in a hotel room, find restaurants that deliver, and perhaps reschedule flight and hotel plans.
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Indiana House removes employer penalty from vaccine mandates bill
The Indiana House on Thursday removed language from a controversial employer vaccine mandates bill that would have financially punished employers for firing workers because they are unvaccinated against COVID-19.
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House, Senate differ on handling vaccine mandates, health emergency
Indiana House and Senate Republican leaders appear to be at odds on how to handle legislation to address employer vaccine mandates and end the state’s public health emergency.
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Articles
Workers have been out sick in record numbers, exacerbating labor shortage woes
Between Dec. 29 and Jan. 10, approximately 8.8 million workers reported not working because they were sick with the coronavirus or caring for someone who was, according to data from the Census Bureau.
Statewide COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations increase to near-highs
Every county in Indiana was colored red on Wednesday on the state’s advisory-level map. Red is the highest level on the four-color map.
U.S. begins offering 1B free COVID tests, but many more needed
The White House also announced Wednesday that it will begin making 400 million N95 masks available for free at pharmacies and community health centers.
Surgeon general: Omicron hasn’t peaked and ‘next few weeks will be tough’
Case counts fueled by the highly contagious variant have started to level off in some parts of the country hit early by the latest wave, but the entire country is not moving at the same pace.
White House soft-launches COVID-19 test request website
At points Tuesday, more than 750,000 people were accessing the website at the same time, according to public government tracking data, but it was not immediately known how many orders were placed.
Indiana House passes bill to limit employer vaccine mandates
The bill would force employers who require the COVID-19 vaccine to provide medical and religious exemptions (the latter with no questions asked) and offer a testing option at no cost to the employee.
Indiana reports 12,126 new COVID-19 cases, 77 more deaths
COVID-19-related hospitalizations rose from 3,363 on Sunday to 3,460 on Monday.
Inaccurate rapid COVID tests leading to ‘false sense of security’ for many
Available at-home coronavirus tests might be less sensitive to the now-dominant omicron variant, especially early in an infection, leading to false negatives. But experts say better-performing tests are coming.
Statewide COVID-19 hospitalizations tick down from all-time high
The state said 3,363 people were hospitalized because of COVID on Sunday, down from 3,462 on Friday. Hospitalizations hit a pandemic high of 3,519 on Thursday.
Indiana surgeon suspected of working under influence of alcohol, cocaine faces sanctions
The Indiana State Medical Association wants a federal judge to allow it to turn over confidential records to the state licensing board regarding a surgeon suspected of working under the influence of cocaine and alcohol.
Rising costs add to pandemic pain for small businesses
The unpredictability of shipping, labor and the coronavirus itself have created an environment where owners are often left guessing about when products might arrive and how much they’ll cost.
COVID deaths, cases rising again at U.S. nursing homes
Nursing homes reported a near-record of about 32,000 COVID-19 cases among residents in the week ending Jan. 9, an almost sevenfold increase from a month earlier, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Statewide COVID-19 hospitalizations climb to another high
The Indiana State Department of Health on Friday reported 15,926 new cases of COVID-19, the second-highest mark during the pandemic, trailing the all-time high of 16,563 on Thursday.
Federal testing website launches next week with 4-test-per-home limit
The White House said the four-test limit on website orders will be applied to each residential address and will apply to the first tranche of 500 million tests. It estimates that the cost of purchasing and distributing the first block of tests at $4 billion.
Statewide COVID-19 cases reach all-time high
The Indiana State Department of Health released the latest statistics for breakthrough cases, hospitalizations and deaths on Thursday.
COVID-19 pill rollout stymied by shortages as omicron rages
Two brand-new COVID-19 pills that were supposed to be an important weapon against the pandemic in the United States are in short supply and have played little role in the fight against the omicron wave of infections.
U.S. to double free COVID tests, add masks to fight omicron
The federal government plans will double to 1 billion the rapid, at-home COVID-19 tests to be distributed free to Americans, along with “high-quality masks.”
Statewide COVID-19 hospitalizations hit another peak
The Indiana State Department of Health on Wednesday reported more than 15,000 new cases of COVID-19 and 125 additional deaths.
Public health emergency bill moves forward in Indiana Senate
The Senate Health and Provider Services Committee voted to move the bill forward to the full Senate, after hearing testimony all in favor of the measure.