COVID

Healthcare workers fear post-Holiday virus surge

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Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb’s weekly news conference, November 18, was led by Dr. Kristina Box, Indiana’s State Health Commissioner, as the Governor and his wife quarantine at home per COVID-19 guidelines. Several members of his security detail tested positive for COVID the day before. While neither the Governor nor his wife have symptoms, they have participated in contact tracing and will get tested later in the week. Dr. Box recommends getting tested 48 hours from the first sign of positive symptoms in a close contact. Cases are rising dramatically in Indiana and across the Midwest.

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Fayette among nation’s worst for COVID surge; Pfizer announces promising vaccine update

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Fayette County health officials announced that the county has some of the worst COVID-19 statistics in the country. Wayne County also is struggling to slow the virus’ spread, with about 75 new cases reported daily on two days last week, and Reid Health setting a one-day record Friday for the number of patients in COVID containment areas. Monday morning, Pfizer and Biontech announced promising early results in a clinical trial vaccine indicating it was effective in more than 90% of trial participants. Read the full press release here.  

Impact on Wayne County, Reid
In the week ending Nov.

News

Indiana State Police investigating fatal Hagerstown shooting

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One Hagerstown man has died after a shooting believed to stem from a dispute between neighbors, police said. KC Allen Simpson, 32, died as the result of multiple gunshot wounds received Wednesday afternoon. Wayne County emergency personnel were called to a possible shooting at about 2:20 p.m. Wednesday to a home in the 4700 block of Brick Church Road west of Hagerstown, according to a news release from Indiana State Police Trooper C. Ryan Davis. Officers from the Hagerstown Police Department were the first to arrive on scene, where they found Simpson lying in the front yard. Officers immediately rendered aid to Simpson, who was eventually transported by medical helicopter to an Indianapolis hospital, where he died.

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Wayne County Democrats issue Nov. 4 statement on vote count proceedings, other election concerns

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Wayne County’s Democratic Party chair Beth Harrick shared this statement on the evening of Wednesday, Nov. 4, with local media regarding November 2020 Election Day and vote count proceedings. RELATED ARTICLE: WAYNE COUNTY ELECTION RESULTS ANNOUNCED

“Above the desire to elect any one candidate, the Wayne County Democratic Party is committed to protecting the interests of voters and the integrity of the election process. On October 28th we became aware of a serious discrepancy between the Indiana state statute (IC 3-11-14-30) and how Wayne County Poll Workers were being trained by the Wayne County Clerk’s office. The discrepancy was in regards to documenting the final per-precinct, per-candidate tally of votes at each polling site, prior to the election machinery being removed and taken to the Courthouse for a merged final count.

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5 p.m. update: Nearly 3,700 ballots, envelopes still being reconciled

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Wayne County might go another night before election results are made public. Bipartisan teams and the Voters Registration Office staff are painstakingly reviewing the nearly 3,700 mail-in absentee ballots cast in the 2020 election to make sure each one is counted. Wayne County Clerk Debra Berry said the process begins when a voter requests an absentee ballot. The voter is sent an absentee ballot and a secure envelope for its return. The voter marks their ballot and returns that ballot to the Voters Registration Office in the secure envelope.

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Fayette County among country’s worst for COVID numbers; Wayne County moves closer to red level

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Fayette County health officials announced Wednesday, Nov. 4, that the county has some of the worst COVID-19 statistics in the country. It ranks in the top 100 worst counties in the United States for cases per hundred thousand on a seven-day rolling average. In addition, Fayette County is Indiana’s only county to remain in the red level, 3, which is the state’s worst, for COVID-19 for the second straight week. On Wednesday, Fayette County’s Health Officer, Dr. Wayne White, recommended that all Fayette County schools curtail all extracurricular activities from Nov.

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Wayne County waiting on election results 18 hours after polls close

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Wayne County election officials are still winding down the count of votes collected Tuesday and in the preceding weeks through early voting, mailed ballots and the traveling board. Shortly before 1 p.m. Wednesday, no results were yet available on the county’s website. Polls closed at 6 p.m. Tuesday and few if any voters were standing in line at that time, based on a reporter’s visit to four of the county’s eight vote centers around that time. Wayne County Clerk Debra Berry said the mail-in absentee ballots and the ballots collected by the traveling poll board, who visit shut-ins and others, were a part of the delay in finishing the vote counting Tuesday night. Having to print the results tapes of results for each precinct at the polling places instead of bringing the equipment to the courthouse as usual also threw off the regular schedule and added more time to the counting, Berry said.

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Election vote count called off for night

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Wayne County election officials called off Tuesday’s vote count at 3 a.m. Wednesday. They will return when the courthouse opens at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday to continue counting. All of the results will be released at once. Continue to follow the Western Wayne News online for updates and results.

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Attorney describes process of requesting printouts at vote centers

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Richmond attorney Amy Noe Dudas spoke during WCTV’s election results show about her role in helping Wayne County Democratic Party on Tuesday as its legal counsel and why a change in the tabulation process means local election results are being released later than usual on Election Night. Dudas said the party discovered a discrepancy last week between the training the local poll workers receive and the state statute regarding Election Night printouts of vote counts. She said she thought that party officials had relayed their concern to the county clerk a few days ago that they were going to look for printouts to be made at each vote center on Election Night. They followed up on their request to make sure it would be carried out. Wayne County Clerk Debra Berry said Tuesday that the process since vote centers were introduced in Wayne County has been that when the vote centers close for Election Day, the inspector and judge have brought the equipment to the Voter Registration Office in the courthouse.