Today’s update discusses:

• Franklin County business assists in developing a vaccine
• free drive-thru testing site
• contact tracing beginning today
• more counties reopening under Phase Two

RESOURCES

• Franklin County business B2S Life Sciences has joined the fight to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. The company has a 40-person team working to develop a test that's designed to “help a pharma company develop a vaccine” by testing its effectiveness. In an effort to move forward with its research, the team is using samples from people who have recovered from the virus, explaining that “[the] body makes antibodies as part of its immune response and those antibodies are obviously incredibly important to curing itself.”
• This week Kroger Health, along with Marion County Public Health Department and Indianapolis Public Schools, are opening a free drive-thru COVID-19 testing site. Tests will be available at the Ernie Pyle Elementary School on May 12, 13, 19, 20, 26, and 27.
• Today, Indiana begins a statewide contact tracing initiative. Contact tracing monitors those who have tested positive for COVID-19 and identifies persons they have been in contact with, allowing health officials to determine exposure and spread of the disease. A “tracer” will call a person that tested positive for COVID-19 and ask for information about anyone they have been near and places they have visited. By identifying those that may have been exposed to COVID-19, Indiana may be able to further flatten the curve of the disease's progression through the population.

ECONOMY

• Today, Hamilton County (part of the Indianapolis metropolitan area) and Lake County (bordering Chicago) reopened their economies This was a week after the majority of Indiana entered Phase Two of the Governor’s plan to reopen the economy.  Phase Two of Governor Holcomb’s recovery plan includes reopening places such as barbershops, tattoo parlors, restaurants, and other like businesses but with certain restrictions. Marion County, in the heart of Indianapolis, remains under a stay-at-home order until Friday, and a plan for reopening is expected this week.