Gary Mayor Jerome Prince and Health Commissioner Roland Walker called on the Common Council to pass an ordinance requiring masks be worn in all of the city’s public and charter schools.
The council is scheduled to meet Tuesday night.
Prince and Walker provided a COVID-19 update Tuesday on the Re-Imagine Gary Facebook page, a practice that occurred weekly during the height of the pandemic.
“We’ve been trying to get back to some sense of normalcy in our lives like before we had the pandemic,” Prince said. “Clearly, the fight’s not over.”
Prince said the city’s new infection rates are on the rise. The seven-day average is in the double digits with the city currently seeing 10 or more new infections a day. There have been two deaths attributed to COVID-19 in August. There have been 179 deaths attributed to COVID-19 in the city since the start of the pandemic, Walker said.
The mayor said the administration has been having conversations with other community leaders, the Gary Common Council and Council President William Godwin, D-1st, and all agree in the importance of maintaining a safe and health community.
Prince said the administration would be asking for approval of a mandate requiring face coverings be worn by all teachers, staff and students in Gary’s public schools. Masks also will be required of all employees, contractors and visitors to any city-owned buildings.
Walker said the wearing masks and getting more people vaccinated, are the only things that will stop the spread of COVID-19 and its new delta variant.
Walker shared infection rates at the schools, showing the virus is present. For example, from Aug. 13 through Aug. 16, there were no students at West Side Leadership Academy with the virus, five or fewer teachers and 11 staff members. Walker said five or fewer means there was at least one reported infection and up to five.
“I give those examples so you know COVID is obviously in our schools,” Walker said.
Walker said some areas of the city are fairing better than others regarding vaccinations. The city currently is in the yellow zone.
People may ask what we need to do to protect ourselves, but we already know what to do, he said. Wearing face coverings and vaccinations are the only thing that will stop the spread, he said.
“Through our own selfishness as a society we are at where we are now,” Walker said.
Carrie Napoleon is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
