COVID-19

Franciscan Health is easing its mask policies. Starting Monday, March 27, masks will be optional at all of Franciscan's Indiana facilities. Its Illinois facilities will become mask optional a week later.

Small businesses and nonprofit organizations in Gary will be able to get some financial help. The city council Tuesday agreed to appropriate $2 million in federal American Rescue Plan money to support small businesses, plus another $800,000 for nonprofits.

A fresh wave of the latest subvariant of Omicron has COVID-19 infections cases on the rise. We'll hear from industry experts on health safety and prevention methods.

COVID-19 vaccines for kids as young as six months are now available from the Gary Health Department. Gary Health Commissioner Dr. Roland Walker gave an update on the city's fight against the coronavirus Tuesday.

Porter County is set to get almost $886,000 in grant money to help fight COVID-19, but creating the necessary funds to allow the county to spend it was met with some opposition. The Porter County Health Department is asking county officials to set up three funds: one for grants pertaining to immunization and vaccines for children, another for grants related to testing, and a third for grants to provide schools with extra nursing help for things like vaccination and health screenings.

All but five Indiana counties are seeing a low spread of COVID-19, according to this week's County Metrics Map from the Indiana Department of Health. Newton and Starke counties are among the five coded yellow. That indicates a moderate spread, based on the number of cases per capita and positivity rates.

COVID-19 spread remains low in Northwest Indiana, but some places are seeing an increase.

COVID-19 spread continues to trend downward in Northwest Indiana. Lake County is coded blue on this week's County Metrics Map from the Indiana Department of Health. That indicates a low community spread, based on the positivity rate and number of cases per capita. Porter, LaPorte, Newton and Jasper counties are all coded yellow, indicating a moderate spread.

Porter County is moving ahead with the process of allocating $33 million in federal COVID-19 money. The county council Tuesday agreed to appropriate $4 million of the American Rescue Plan funds, including almost $1 million for employee stipends, $2.5 million toward the Marquette Greenway Trail, $500,000 for township trustees and $25,000 for a behavioral health study.