Waflart: Remember the rules
The Dubois County Health Officer said it remains crucial at this time to stop the spread of the COVID-19 in our community.
“While I do believe a majority of people are following the rules, my main concern is for those who are not,” County Health Officer, Dr. Ted Waflart said. “Remember the rules: STAY HOME, PRACTICE SOCIAL DISTANCING, and GOOD HAND HYGIENE. These rules are not just recommendations but orders that have been enacted by Governor Holcomb.”
“Now, more than ever, it is imperative to come together and work together to mitigate the spread of this deadly virus in our community,” Waflart said that even a few people not following these rules can cause a major negative impact on our efforts to safeguard the health of our friends, families and neighbors throughout Dubois County.
“We need to make every effort possible to avoid contact with others outside our home. I won’t be satisfied until everyone is doing their part,” he said. “We can all see the rise of hot spots in our state and in the US. We must not let that happen to our county. We are all making sacrifices for this cause. Remember we are trying to prevent serious illness and death. Together we can stop the spread of COVID-19.”
It’s amazing how many factories and businesses are open. These factories are a major danger for having a major outbreak. It’s sad that the factories are putting their profits above the safety of their employees and their families. Many of these factories have sent their office personnel home to work from home. The other employees have to stay. Granted we only have a few known cases but how many are there that we don’t know about. I am out of the workforce now but my concern is for people I still know who are having to put their safety at risk. I hope and pray we don’t have a massive outbreak here but we are being setup for a disaster. Our local hospital will not be able to handle the covid 19 outbreak. May God speed and keep us all safe.
There has to be more people out driving around than before all this started. As someone who works for a critical infrastructure business, I see it daily, the traffic patterns have not really changed. The stores seem just as busy as ever too. Landscapers out everywhere, rock trucks rushing up and down the roads everywhere.
The average person seems to be blowing this off and teenagers are still getting together to hang out.
Obviously I don’t know where you are but I’m seeing much less traffic drive by where I live. And when I went to Walmart last week the parking lot was barely 1/4 full. This was about 1pm on Thursday. They are only open 7-8:30 instead of 24 hours so you’d assume it would be busier, not less busy, if just as many people are shopping. But I realize this is just my observation.
Some people will never abide by the rules, but I think a majority are, especially in the past few days after Trump’s press briefing on Sunday when he talked about seeing body bags on TV.
There seems to be splinters in the eyes of the public and a 2×4 in the eye of the health dept, et al – and the latter had better pluck out their 2×4 before trying to pick out the public’s splinters so we can all see eye to eye. If what the health dept, et al, is continually admonishing is accurate and they’re REALLY on board with this life/death-saving goal (hope to heaven they are), then do the following: CLOSE the parks – the ones being widely used for exercise but essentially also as meeting/gathering places, etc. CLOSE all these multiple convenience stores attached to gas stations in the three larger populated, high-traffic communities of Jasper, Huntingburg and Ferdinand, in order to cut down on all the in-out human traffic and close-contact chances (and most all of those don’t have automatic doors like the groceries – everyone has to touch the metal handles and/or the glass to enter/exit). We have enough groceries in the county, and most people can pay for gas with cards of one sort or another at the pump and the few who can’t will need to either get one from their bank or drive to a smaller community’s gas-convenience store to pay cash until this all ends. And despite the inaccurate, fear-mongering letter defending the factories as somehow patriotically “essential” (not), CLOSE the non-essential factories – those that aren’t making equipment and supplies for immediate and DIRECT use in this pandemic effort – not broad, indirect products loosely interpreted by some as such that require hundreds of employees to work in close-contact infectious environments. Get real. And let’s hear from those company heads of what they’re currently producing on each shift that indeed meet and require their direct pandemic efforts – they’ve all been strangely silent. Finally, if this pandemic is indeed as serious as many say it is, then our local law enforcement – as is indeed happening in some places, now – SHOULD be enforcing certain violations of the gathering/socializing mandates, those pertaining to potentially hazardous contact and infection issues. Folks, this all can’t be so selective – some way(s) for some and another way(s) for others – rather, it must be ONE WAY for ALL to be successful and to prevent a local outbreak.
The Health Department can’t close parks or convenience stores or enforce any state or local laws or emergency proclamations. If the city of Jasper or any other city wants to go above and beyond what the governor has issued, local governments would need to make their own laws to be able to enforce them. The state police could enforce any of the governor’s proclamations but doubtful they would.
How will this order be enforced?
“Staying home is critical to reducing the spread of COVID-19 in your community. Adhering to the order will save lives, and it is the responsibility of every Hoosier to do their part. However, if the order is not followed, the Indiana State Police will work with local law enforcement to enforce this order. The Indiana State Department of Health and the Alcohol and Tobacco Commission will enforce the restaurant and bar restrictions.”
https://www.in.gov/gov/3232.htm
Dr. Waflart your wasting your time telling everyone to follow the rules. Until all nonessential businesses are closed people are going to be working and out running around.
I agree with Ed and the others about the factories being opened. Wood factories and rubber factories are nonessential businesses.
Local factories say they’re doing everything they can to protect their employees from the virus. We can see which employees there’re protecting – the office staff, and which ones they’re not – the factor workers.
It’s time our Govenor do something. People were bashing President Trump saying he didn’t do enough. They were trashing him for the stimulus package.
Let’s bring our attention back home before it’s too late.
Stay home! Follow the rules, and parents love your kids enough to keep them home regardless of how old they are.
Dr. Waflart, Jasper & Huntingburg Mayor’s, and Governor Holcomb, do something to shut the factories down.
Yes the wood factories are non essential businesses and should be treated that way. Some of these factories (Master Brand) pretend to care and tell to that you can take the next two weeks to be with your family, stay home, and stop the spreading, but then deny you unemployment benefits. So now again it is the non essential businesses that are not taking this seriously.
If you are laid off they CANNOT deny your unemployment, no matter what they tell you. Even if they ask you to “volunteer” to be laid off or make you sign something saying you volunteered. You will still get unemployment.
?Rosemary. I totally agree with you!!
So many in our county that either do not meet the criteria for testing or are super spreaders because they are carrying the virus with no symptoms exposing us all and putting us all at risk. If all businesses that are not working directly in the fight to make essential medical items we are in need of everywhere then those businesses should be forced to close their doors so that social distancing, limited exposure, and self quarantining can be put in place while being enforced by our local law enforcement agencies. Until this happens our numbers will sky rocket in our county because too many of our residents are not taking this serious and continue to expose everyone. We have got to get a handle on it before we begin losing lives of those we can possibly save by making it about the cause at hand, the people, and not profit. We have always been known to come together when faced with a crisis but too many are causing division and putting us all at risk.
Hey “Dr.” Waflart, how about enforcing the rules? I sent you an email directly to report an ongoing public health emergency. Nothing has been done. Put up or shut up.
The County Health Department can’t create or enforce laws. Those come from emergency proclamations by local, county and state officials. So your beef is with the governor. Better yet, our local government needs to create and enforce laws to temporarily address these issues.
There are probably hundreds of people not following the orders of the Govenor.
I think it’s sad when everyone expects law enforcement to enforce the rules. How about some responsibility for yourselves?