The Bartholomew County Health Department will be seeking to join a state program providing for testing for COVID-19.

Amanda Organist, the nursing supervisor for the county, said that the state initially did not want county health departments to provide the testing itself, instead preferring the counties concentrate on tracking cases.

However, the state is stepping back on its testing locations and is now offering a program where the county could operate one or two testing sites, with the state providing the materials, protective gear and testing costs, along with $100,000 for staffing and other expenses.

Organist told the Bartholomew County Commissioners Monday that if approved the county would operate one testing site and would seek to contract out another testing location. The second site has not been determined, but several locations are under consideration, she said.

Commissioners approved the health department applying to join the program.

You will be seeing a new traffic pattern heading into downtown Columbus as work continues on the railroad overpass at State Road 11 and State Road 46.

Milestone Contractors are working to finish the new alignment and scheduled the new traffic pattern to go into effect early this morning. Westbound State Road 46 will be down to one lane for about three weeks.

Under the new configuration, northbound State Road 11 to westbound State Road 46 will be using the new loop ramp to the new bridge over State Road 11. Southbound State Road 11 thru traffic will be using the existing configuration and a section of temporary pavement. Southbound State Road 11 to westbound State Road 46 will use the existing configuration.

The next traffic switch, planned next month, will move all traffic to the new alignment. After that, any remaining work will use temporary lane closures with flaggers.

Eastbound S.R. 46 traffic was moved to the new loop ramps and bridge late last month.

INDOT asks that you slow down, use extra caution and drive without distractions in work zones.

Columbus Parks and Recreation Department expects to start looking for proposals to operate Greenbelt Golf Course later this week.

Although an initial recommendation from the city administration called for closing the course, with decisions expected by the parks department and City Council by the end of the month and closing in August, a new timeline released a week and a half ago added 60 days to the decision timeline to allow for the consideration of other options and proposals.

Mayor Jim Lienhoop said that the public showed it was more interested in maintaining the mission of Greenbelt than the financial or other factors being weighed in closing it. The city will be seeking proposals on the operations of Greenbelt, and Lienhoop said that they would consider any serious proposals. He said there are no serious proposals on the table yet, but there have been people express serious interest in making a proposal.

Although the request for proposals was expected Friday, the parks department announced that it would be releasing a request for proposals late this week.

Face masks or coverings are now mandatory in public spaces in Indiana. The governor signed an executive order on Friday to help slow the spread of COVID-19. That went into effect at just after midnight this morning.

Governor Eric Holcomb’s order however, did not make it a crime not to wear a mask, as originally planned. Instead of the possibility of being charged with a misdemeanor, state and local health departments will enforce compliance mostly through education.

The order requires a face covering over the nose and mouth when inside a business, public building or other indoor place open to the public. However that does not apply to private offices, workspace or meetings in which six feet of social distancing can be maintained. It also applies to outdoor spaces where social distancing is not possible and while using public transportation, taxis, private car services or ride-sharing services.

There are exemptions including children younger than 8, those with medical, mental health or disabilities which prevent them from wearing a face covering, those exercising or taking part in a sport, or driving in a vehicle with passengers who live with you.

The governor said he was using data to make this decision, pointing to an increase in hospitalizations, an increase in positive daily test results and an increase in the percentage of tests that come back positive.

Dr. Brian Niedbalski, the Bartholomew County health officer, explained last week the importance of wearing face coverings.

The order is set to expire on Wednesday, Aug. 26th unless it is rescinded or extended.

According to the most recent update from the Indiana State Department of Health, there are 62,372 total confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Indiana, an increase of 860 cases since Saturday’s update.

There have been 2,706 deaths in Indiana as of Sunday afternoon’s update, an increase of 8 since Saturday.

Bartholomew County has had 683 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 45 deaths.

The most recent death in our area was July 21st, in Jackson County. The county has had 525 confirmed cases and four deaths.

Of the 237 deaths in area counties from COVID-19, 58.2 percent have been of patients who were 80 or older. The next largest group was patients 70-79, with 19.4 percent of the deaths and patients 60 to 69 had 15.6 percent of the deaths.

Columbus City Utilities is reporting that water customers in the area of 8th Street and Werner Avenue will be under a boil water advisory starting Monday morning at 8 a.m.

The water utility says that they will be shutting down water in the area as crews make improvements to the water system, leading to the advisory.

You should boil any water you plan for cooking, drinking or other consumption for five minutes before using it. The advisory is expected to last until Thursday, but customers will be notified when it is safe to drink the water again.

If you have any questions you can call the Water Service Hotline at 812-418-6435.

Johnson County Sheriff Duane Burgess says his deputies will not be enforcing the governor’s mask mandate. In a social media post Thursday, Burgess said they will continue to enforce the law as guided by the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the State of Indiana, and those laws put into place by elected legislators.

The sheriff said that you should not contact his office or county dispatchers regarding a violation of the mask mandate, set to go into effect Monday. Instead, he suggested contacting the Indiana State Department of Health. He said the department would not respond solely over a mask complaint.

However, he said that if a dispute or disturbance arises at a business or organization over refusing service, deputies would respond as normal. And it is within a businesses rights not to serve someone who refuses to wear a mask.

Burgess suggested that everyone remain respectful and tactful about the use of a mask.

Bartholomew County Sheriff Matt Myers said on his personal Facebook page that people should play it safe and wear a mask. But that education is the key and he would like people to individually comply, rather than have a state mandate.