COVID-19

A top lawmaker in Indiana is warning schools they could lose out on 15 percent of state funding if they start the new school year only online. 

Sen. President Pro Tempore Rod Bray (R-Martinsville) sent a letter to school leaders Thursday, saying they could risk up to 15 percent of their state funding if they do not offer in-person classes this fall.

Hundreds of thousands of Hoosiers lost their jobs and income by no fault of their own due to the pandemic. For many, an extra $600 unemployment benefit helped them stay afloat. Then it expired.

But some workers say they’ve waited weeks, sometimes months, for any payment at all from the Department of Workforce Development.

For 12 weeks, Rebecca Schreck has waited for unemployment benefits.

Indiana is getting more people with mental health and substance use disorders connected with “peer supports” – trained professionals who have personal experience with those challenges.

Indiana Addictions Issues Coalition director Brandon George said the state isn’t just dealing with a COVID-19 pandemic – it’s also still struggling with an overdose and addiction epidemic. And he said COVID-19 has exacerbated that problem.

Indiana schools are reopening for the new academic year, with some reporting cases of COVID-19 among staff or students, and the state's top school official says efforts to find people who have potentially been exposed to the coronavirus is proving difficult.

Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly is moving to Phase 3 testing of a treatment to prevent COVID-19 after initial success. The next step will be to test the drug at nursing homes where the pandemic has hit hard.

The most recent measure of the U.S. economy showed a historic drop due to the coronavirus. This comes even after the federal government gave aid to businesses and individuals.

The latest gross domestic product numbers, or GDP, recorded the greatest quarterly decline since it was first recorded more than 70 years ago.