Fort Wayne Mayor upset with community over recent COVID spikes

(Darrin Wright/News Now Warsaw)

FORT WAYNE (Network Indiana) — Needless to say, Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry (R) is frustrated with his city and the state of Indiana.

As coronavirus numbers continue to inflate throughout the state, Henry is upset that many Hoosiers are not taking seriously the guidelines and recommendations of healthcare professionals.

“You shouldn’t have to mask because you look around and everyone else is masking. You should wear a mask because that’s the proper thing to do,” Henry said banging his hand on the podium.

“When I hear that Fort Wayne and Allen County, and the state of Indiana for that matter, are going up higher than other communities our size in other states, something’s wrong,” he added.

Indiana saw another single-day record of Hoosiers coming down with coronavirus on Thursday with 2,880 more cases reported. 42 more people were reported dead. The number of people going to the hospital with the virus is also up.

Indiana is holding steady at Stage 5 of Gov. Eric Holcomb’s reopening plan.

“The last thing I want in this community is for one of your loved ones to die because you did not take the advice of those who know what they’re doing,” Henry said. “Pay close attention to those health care professionals … who are asking you again to continue to practice what they’ve been asking you to do the last eight months.”

Allen County reported its own single-day record of positive tests on Thursday at 152 people who live there getting the virus. The county has a 12-percent unique positivity rate over the last seven days, meaning more people that have not had the virus before are getting sick.