STATE WIDE–The governor is taking his lumps. Gov. Eric Holcomb answered for not wearing a mask in a photo that he took while picking up his dinner at a restaurant in Brown County over the weekend. At Monday’s coronavirus news conference he said he had no excuse for the mistake.
“It was a beautiful, beautiful day this past weekend when I went in to get our dinner for my wife and I. That was no excuse. I thought I was gonna be in there for 30 seconds,” he said. Holcomb said he had his mask in the car. “It was an unforced error, completely my fault.”
Holcomb said he’s been hard on himself for the incident, which some people saw as do as I say, not as I do.
“That would have been the absolute ideal perfect opportunity to take that picture, properly socially distanced, with a mask on.”
Both Holcomb and Indiana’s chief medical officer, Dr. Lindsay Weaver, said a mask is a strong recommendation when out in public.
“This is where the hard work starts, right? We want to protect others around us. That constant reminder to ourselves and to each other to wear a mask, to keep that social distancing, to try and break those old habits,” said Weaver, those “old habits” being how most everyone operated their entire lives before a few weeks ago.
Both Holcomb and his general counsel Joe Heerens, answered questions about confusion over the Back on Tack plan, or the state’s economic re-opening.
“We put the executive order together. We tried to put it in as plain English as possible,” he said. “It’s very difficult to capture every question, that could come up in a complex situation like this.” The state’s website for the plan is http://www.backontrack.in.gov.
BMV Commissioner Peter Lacy said if you have to go to the BMV, you can make an appointment. They are opening more branches by appointment only, with seats six feet apart, to help anyone with an issue that can’t be resolved online, at a kiosk or over the phone.
“We are adding 40 locations to our map and are trying to put a branch within one hour of every Hoosier in the state,” he said. You will be prescreened on the website before you are granted an appointment.
Lacy reinded people that the governor’s executive order expires May 22, that keeps you from getting a ticket for an expired tag or driver’s license.
