INDIANAPOLIS — The U.S. Secretary of Labor made a stop at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on June 24 to encourage people to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
"What we want to do is get Americans back to work. We want to get the economy back up and running. We want to be able to show people it's safe in the workplace. So I'm here today to encourage people to get vaccinated because we want to make sure we get people into a safe workplace," said Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh.
Also on hand was 2013 Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Kanaan. He took the opportunity to thank the health care workers who made this year's race possible.
"What we did this past year was remarkable. Thanks to you guys on the frontlines for, you know, putting yourselves at risk to make us feel comfortable. And by doing that, I think one of the saddest days apart from all the deaths and everything else that happened during COVID, it was to race around this place last year exactly the the same way it looks right now. There was nobody here," Kanaan said. "It didn't feel like a race, it didn't feel like this place. It wasn't what it is. And this year, thanks to you guys, we had 135,000 people and it was an amazing race."
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway had agreed to safety procedures approved by the Marion County Public Health Department to reduce chances of COVID-19 spread at the race.
Less than a month later, MCPHD Director Dr. Virginia Caine said they only traced 19 people being infected and attending the race.
The 19 people were all from Indiana and all lived outside of Marion County.
MCPHD did work with health departments in other counties and the Indiana State Department of Health to track the cases and look for other potential exposure.