LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Indiana is charging ahead into Stage 5 of its COVID-19 response this weekend.
The final stage of its reopening plan still comes with rules that the public must follow, including the mask mandate and social distancing.
In Jeffersonville on Wednesday, Jennifer Myers said moving to Stage 5 without a vaccine makes her uneasy. She takes care of people with compromised immune systems.
"I don't think it's a good idea to go to Stage 5," she said. "I'd rather we go backwards a stage than forward a stage at this point, just to be safe."
Indiana announced Stage 5 starts Saturday. That means going back to full capacity for restaurants, bars, gyms and fitness centers, plus lifting size restrictions on social gatherings.
"That seems more like corona-palooza," Myers said.
However, businesses will still have to follow social distancing, and the mask mandate is still in effect.
"It's bull," David Toma said of the extended mask mandate. "I'm not buying the pandemic. I believe it's out there, but it's not as bad as people say it is."
Toma, who wore a mask while shopping at Sav-A-Lot in Jeffersonville, was glad to see business capacity expand but thinks some of the rules don't make sense.
"Prime example: Some of the local bars, you have to have a mask on to walk in there," he said. "But as soon as you get inside, cross over the threshold, you can take your mask off. I mean, what's the sense in that?"
With over 100,000 positive cases and more than 3,000 COVID-19 deaths in Indiana, Gov. Eric Holcomb decided to move forward, citing progress in the state's positivity rate.
While most of the state's seven-day positivity rate is under 5%, counties bordering Louisville are slightly higher, up to 7%, according to state data.
"When things do point in the wrong direction numbers-wise, we either hold in place or take a step back a little bit," Clark County Health Officer Dr. Eric Yazel said.
Local health officials said they'll watch out for a fall surge as temperatures drop and more activities move indoors.
Indiana's mask mandate will stay in effect until at least Oct. 17.
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