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Tippecanoe Officials Say COVID Restrictions Will Loosen If Cases Continue To Fall

Tippecanoe County health experts say restrictions will loosen if COVID cases stay low over the next few days. 

Just two weeks after the county turned red for the first time during the pandemic following a period of high community spread of the virus, COVID cases have dipped low enough that officials may relax restrictions. 

Tippecanoe County health officer Dr. Jeremy Adler said it’s not clear why cases are falling - but it appears to be a trend across the state and country. 

“It could very well just be the natural ebb after a huge surge like we had in November and December,” he said.

If positivity rates remain below 10% for the next two days restrictions will lift over the weekend. 

Retail businesses, “cultural, entertainment, and tourism venues”, and gyms would all move to 100% capacity. Retail businesses are currently at 75%, with gyms at 50%. 

Indoor capacity at restaurants would return to 75%. They are currently operating at 50%. 

County officials also noted that some 11,000 residents have now received their first dose of the vaccine, with another 2,100 receiving their second dose. 

“We’re currently awaiting further expansion of eligibility criteria, and we’ll update the public when the criteria are expanded,” Dr. Adler said. 

At the press conference, Purdue University officials noted they plan on providing a vaccination center for students, faculty, and staff when the state expands its group of people eligible to receive a vaccine. 

University officials said they have been informally approved to be a vaccine site and have already prepared volunteers and identified a location for distributing the vaccine. 

“Everything pretty much is ready like I said except for the shipment of the vaccines,” said Dr. Esteban Ramirez, the Chief Medical Officer for the Protect Purdue Health Center. 

It’s not clear when doses of the vaccine would be supplied to the university. A university spokesperson said they would provide more information “when there is more to share on the topic.”

The vaccination site would only serve the Purdue community. 

Despite the good news about declines in COVID cases and the growing number of vaccinated residents, Adler continued to urge caution. 

“It will take time to vaccinate a significant number of individuals,” he said. “With the emergence of new variant strains that appear to be more contagious, we need to stay the course and keep our preventative measures going.”