INDIANAPOLIS — Here are Friday's latest updates on the coronavirus pandemic, including the latest news on COVID-19 vaccinations and testing in Indiana.
Registrations for the vaccine are now open for Hoosiers 12 and older through the Indiana State Department of Health. This story will be updated over the course of the day with more news on the COVID-19 pandemic.
Purdue requiring masks indoors
Effective Monday, Aug. 2, face masks will again be required in all indoor spaces on the Purdue University campus for students, employees, and visitors, regardless of vaccination status.
The university made the change after the CDC updated its guidance Tuesday, saying all individuals — both vaccinated and unvaccinated — should mask up in indoor public places due to the high transmission rate of the delta variant.
Back in May, Purdue said it would strongly encourage vaccinations for all before returning to campus. The school is also offering an incentive for students and teachers who show proof of their vaccination. Ten students and 50 employees who document their vaccine to the university will be chosen to win a prize.
Purdue is also hosting a vaccine clinic on the West Lafayette campus.
State news conference on vaccinations
State health officials are giving an update on COVID-19 numbers and vaccination efforts Friday afternoon.
Indiana officials said COVID-19 case levels are above where we were at this time last year. Dr. Kris Box said the biggest threat is from the delta variant, and testing showed 91 percent of the cases in the state are from that variant.
The state is testing 13,000 people per day and said 8,000 people in Indiana were hospitalized with COVID-19 this week.
The Indiana State Department of Health is recommending anyone two years of age and older wear a mask indoors, that's regardless of vaccination. The state is recommending the same for schools in Indiana, but is leaving it up to districts to decide. Dr. Box said local leaders and school districts have told the state they want to have the right to decide if masks should be mandated, that is why ISDH is sticking with recommending masks. It did point to low vaccination rates among students and the students who are currently too young to be vaccinated as a significant concern.
The state is seeing an increase in delta variant cases among school-aged residents.
All K-12 institutions are required to notify the state immediately upon learning of a positive case and a student testing positive must quarantine.
Nearly 50 percent of Hoosiers have not yet been vaccinated against COVID-19.
Breakthrough cases are still possible among people vaccinated, especially with the delta variant. However, cases in those vaccinated tend to be more mild and in most cases do not result in being hospitalized. The state said deaths in breakthrough cases are rare and tend to be in those 80 and older. ISDH reports 96 percent of deaths are in non-vaccinated Hoosiers. In the nine deaths in long-term care facilities in Indiana, only one was for someone fully vaccinated.
ISDH update
The Indiana State Department of Health reported six more deaths from COVID-19 and an additional 1,461 cases. The total number of deaths in Indiana from COVID-19 is at 13,576.
CDC document warns delta variant appears to be as contagious as chickenpox
U.S. health officials are expected to release new data about the spread of COVID-19 on Friday that led to their decision to recommend that vaccinated people wear masks in some situations, a reversal of previous guidance.
The report, to be released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, comes from a recent investigation of a coronavirus outbreak in Provincetown, Massachusetts, according to a federal official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose the plan.
According to multiple reports, an internal CDC presentation also outlined how the delta variant appears to spread as easily as chickenpox and cause more severe illness. The document also argues that officials must "acknowledge the war has changed," according to The Washington Post. CNN reported that CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky confirmed the authenticity of the presentation.
Walensky told CNN that this is "one of the most transmissible viruses we know about. Measles, chickenpox, this -- they're all up there."
State health officials providing update on COVID-19 Friday afternoon
State Health Commissioner Kris Box, M.D., and Chief Medical Officer Lindsay Weaver, M.D., are providing an update Friday afternoon on the state's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The news conference is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. ET.
13News will stream the news conference on our website and mobile news app.
Upcoming mobile vaccine clinics in central Indiana
Mobile vaccination clinics are planned on the following schedule:
Today, 8 a.m. to noon, Saturday, noon to 4 p.m.:
Indianapolis Colts Training Camp
19000 Grand Park Blvd., Westfield, IN 46074
Today-Saturday, noon to 9 p.m.:
Jasper County Fair
2671 W. Clark St., Rensselaer, IN 47978
Jackson County Fair
476 E. County Road 100 South, Brownstown, IN 47220
Saturday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.:
Saint Mary’s Church
311 N. New Jersey St., Indianapolis, IN 46204
Patients with an appointment at a state-hosted public vaccination site can get a free Uber or Lyft ride. Call 2-1-1 or (866) 211-9966 to receive a voucher to cover the cost of an Uber ride to and from your vaccination appointments. IU Health offers free Lyft rides to any vaccine site in the state. Call 1.888.IUHEALTH (888-484-3258) and choose option 9 if you need transportation to your vaccine appointment.
IndyGo transit center hosting vaccine clinic Friday
IndyGo riders who get a COVID-19 vaccine will receive free access to IndyGo for an entire month. Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is making the incentive available to everyone who takes advantage of a vaccination clinic Friday, July 30, from 2-6 p.m. at the Julia M. Carson Transit Center (CTC), located at 201 E. Washington St.
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is teaming up with IndyGo, Shalom Health Care Center, the Marion County Public Health Department, the Indianapolis Public Transportation Foundation and the Indy Chamber to host the free vaccination clinic. No registration is required.
The pop-up vaccination clinic at the Carson Transit Center will conveniently connect those who ride IndyGo to the vaccine, making it easier for people on the go.
Everybody who gets a Johnson & Johnson or Moderna vaccine will receive a free 31-day IndyGo paper pass at the clinic immediately following their vaccination. Participants must be age 18 or over.
IndyGo’s future headquarters at 9503 E. 33rd St. is also open for free vaccinations Tuesdays – Saturdays in partnership with the Marion County Public Health Department. Click here for specific times.
Japan to widen virus emergency after record spike amid Games
Japan is set to expand the coronavirus state of emergency in Tokyo to neighboring areas and the western city of Osaka as infections surge to new highs while the capital hosts the Olympics.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is scheduled to announce later Friday the emergency will be expanded until Aug. 31. The measures now in place in Tokyo and Okinawa would include Saitama, Kanagawa and Chiba, as well as Osaka. Tokyo has reported three daily records in a row. COVID-19 cases have doubled since last week.
The emergency measures mainly involve shorter hours and an alcohol ban at eateries and bars, but they are having less impact amid fatigue over restrictions and the increasing spread of the delta variant.
States race to use COVID-19 vaccines before they expire
Hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 vaccine doses have been saved from the trash after U.S. regulators extended their expiration date for a second time. It's part of a nationwide effort to salvage expiring shots to battle the nation’s summer surge in infections.
The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday sent a letter to shot maker Johnson & Johnson, declaring that the doses remain safe and effective for at least six months when properly stored.
The FDA’s move gives the shots an extra six weeks as public officials press more Americans to get inoculated. Public health officials are trying to ensure that soon-to-expire shots are put into arms before they must be discarded.
CDC updates testing recommendations for fully vaccinated individuals
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently updated its testing recommendations for fully vaccinated individuals.
According to the update on the CDC's website, if a person is fully vaccinated and gets exposed to someone with COVID-19, they should get tested 3-5 days after exposure.
The previous recommendation said those who are fully vaccinated did not need to get tested if exposed, unless they were showing symptoms.
This change comes the same week the CDC issued a fresh recommendation that calls for wearing a face mask indoors again in areas of the country that are COVID-19 hot spots, even for the vaccinated. The change covers about two-thirds of all counties and parishes in the United States, according to CDC data.
The organization's decision came roughly two months after the CDC said vaccinated individuals could go without masks in most situations. But the decision was reversed after the delta variant drove cases back up across the country.
Latest US, world numbers
There have been more than 34.75 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States as of 3:30 a.m. ET Friday, according to Johns Hopkins University. There have been 612,120 deaths recorded in the U.S.
Worldwide, there have been more than 196.6 million confirmed coronavirus cases with more than 4.19 million deaths. More than 4 billion vaccine doses have been administered worldwide.
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness like pneumonia, or death.
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