INDIANAPOLIS — Thursday's latest updates on the coronavirus pandemic.
Bartholomew Co. schools move to e-learning
Students in Bartholomew County will transition to virtual learning starting next week.
The Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation announced the change Thursday, saying the spread of COVID-19 in the community "has made it very difficult to continue our normal operating procedures."
All schools in the district will be on e-learning through Thanksgiving, with a plan to return to an in-person or remote option for families on Nov. 30. The district will continue to monitor the situation and make the final determination on the return date at a later time.
Beef & Boards closed through 2020
Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre announced Thursday it would keep its doors closed until February 2021.
Owner Doug Stark said closing doors during the holidays was not what they wanted, but they had to protect staff and patrons.
The extension in the closure means 2020 VIP memberships will also be extended until November 2021.
The theater plans to reopen Feb. 4, 2021 with its production of "Smoke on the Mountain." The 2021 season will be announced in December 2020.
ISDH update
The Indiana State Department of Health reported Thursday that there are 4,462 new cases of COVID-19 in the state and 45 more deaths.
The state is nearing 200,000 confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic and 4,269 deaths.
The 7-day positivity rate is 8.8 percent.
To date, 1,761,947 unique individuals have been tested in Indiana, up from 1,748,496 on Wednesday. A total of 3,073,855 tests, including repeat tests for unique individuals, have been reported to the state Department of Health since Feb. 26.
Greenwood switching to hybrid learning over COVID-19 concerns
Greenwood Middle and High School students will begin a hybrid learning schedule Monday, Nov. 9 due to COVID-19 concerns.
Superintendent Dr. Kent DeKoninck sent an email to parents and staff Wednesday to announce the change.
Elementary students will not be affected and will still remain in the classroom five days a week.
On Wednesday, the Indiana State Department of Health placed Johnson County in the “orange” level of community spread for COVID-19, which recommends a hybrid learning schedule.
Friday, Nov. 6 will be an e-learning day for all middle and high school students.
Parents are expected to receive more information through email regarding the hybrid learning schedule.
Jazz Kitchen reopening
The Jazz Kitchen is reopening after being closed for seven months due to COVID-19.
The restaurant will open with just 50 percent capacity and with some interior updates. Renovations have made the restaurant more open and easier to sanitize. Touchless faucets, soap dispensers and towel stations have also been added to the bathrooms.
Staff will be required to undergo temperature checks before every shift, and both employees and customers will be required to wear masks.
Colts staff member tests positive
The Indianapolis Colts announced a staff member has tested positive for COVID-19.
The Colts organization said the unidentified staff member has self-quarantined and is under the care of team doctors.
The team is in the process of contact tracing and has entered the NFL’s intensive protocol. The Colts said they are working closely with the NFL, its medical staff and team doctors.
Thursday's scheduled practice will go on at the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center, but all meetings will be held virtually and away from the practice facility.
751K seek unemployment
The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell slightly last week to 751,000, a still-historically high level that shows that many employers keep cutting jobs in the face of the accelerating pandemic.
A surge in viral cases and Congress’ failure so far to provide more aid for struggling individuals and businesses are threatening to deepen Americans' economic pain. Eight months after the pandemic flattened the economy, weekly jobless claims still point to a stream of layoffs. Before the virus struck in March, the weekly figure had remained below 300,000 for more than five straight years.
Thursday’s report from the Labor Department said the number of people who are continuing to receive traditional unemployment benefits declined to 7.3 million. That figure shows that some of the unemployed are being recalled to their old jobs or are finding new ones. But it also indicates that many jobless Americans have used up their state unemployment aid — which typically expires after six months — and have transitioned to a federal extended benefits program that lasts an additional 13 weeks.
The job market has been under pressure since the virus paralyzed the economy and has regained barely half the 22 million jobs that were lost to the pandemic in early spring. The pace of rehiring has steadily weakened — from 4.8 million added jobs in June to 661,000 in September. On Friday, when the government issues the October jobs report, economists foresee a further slowdown — to 580,000 added jobs — according to a survey by the data firm FactSet.
US hits 100,000 daily COVID-19 cases, as Fauci predicted
The United States became the first country to record 100,000 new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday, reaching a milestone foretold in June by the nation's top infectious disease expert. Cases and hospitalizations are setting records all around the country just as the holidays and winter approach.
A Johns Hopkins University tracker showed the U.S. had 102,831 confirmed new cases of the coronavirus Wednesday, an increase of more than 11,000 from the day before. It eclipsed the previous record of 99,321 set last Friday.
The U.S., which has led the world in total COVID-19 cases and deaths for months, is the first to cross the 100,000 daily total. India came close with nearly 98,000 cases on Sept. 16, according to Johns Hopkins. But while the U.S. has seen an increase in daily cases since then, India's numbers have fallen.
The 100,000 daily mark was one predicted by Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, more than four months ago.
“We are now having 40-plus-thousand new cases a day. I would not be surprised if we go up to to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around, and so I am very concerned,” Fauci told a Senate panel on June 30.
Latest US, world numbers
There have been more than 9.48 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. as of 3:30 a.m. ET Thursday, according to Johns Hopkins University. There have been more than 233,000 deaths and 3.74 million people recovered.
Worldwide, there have been more than 48.1 million confirmed cases with more than 1.22 million deaths and 31.9 million recoveries.
The real number of people infected by the virus around the world is believed to be much higher — perhaps 10 times higher in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — given testing limitations and the many mild cases that have gone unreported or unrecognized.
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness like pneumonia, or death.
US sets record 7-day average for coronavirus cases
The United States set another record for daily confirmed coronavirus cases as states around the country posted all-time highs.
Daily new confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. have surged 45 percent over the past two weeks, to a record 7-day average of 86,352, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Deaths are also on the rise, up 15 percent to an average of 846 deaths every day. The total U.S. death toll is already more than 232,000, and total confirmed U.S. cases have surpassed 9 million. Those are the highest totals in the world, and new infections are increasing in nearly every state.
Dr. Susan Bailey, president of the American Medical Association, said there are things Americans can do now to help change the trajectory.
"Regardless of the outcome of the election, everyone in America needs to buckle down,″ Bailey said.
“A lot of us have gotten kind of relaxed about physically distancing, not washing our hands quite as often as we used to, maybe not wearing our masks quite as faithfully. We all need to realize that things are escalating and we’ve got to be more careful than ever,” she said.