Certain businesses encouraged to develop plan for re-opening

Holcomb said the state has been gathering feedback from business associations throughout the state for the past several days, with the final input expected to come tomorrow. He added Indiana will know when to open these businesses but how it will be done still needs to be determined.

These businesses could re-open in May, and Holcomb said establishments that have business practices in place that protect customers and employees will be ready to open. He said he would like to see all these businesses open at the same time, rather than owners who haven’t looked at ways to implement these things scrambling to catch up.

Practices being discussed for workers when they return to their jobs could include them wearing gloves and masks, according to the governor. He said workers would be required to wash their hands often and get their temperatures checked. Businesses that are large enough to run a cafeteria may not be able to operate those rooms immediately, and workers could be required to bring meals from homes to eat on breaks.

Today, Indiana reported 431 new cases of the novel coronavirus, bringing the state’s total to 12,097. An additional 61 people have also died, with there now being 630 Indiana deaths.

Holcomb said nationwide the number of Americans who have now died from COVID-19 is greater than the number of Americans who were killed in the Korean War.

To date, 67,264 Hoosiers have been tested for the disease with 2,641 people testing positive in Indiana.