'I Want You To Feel Safe': Why Some Indiana Businesses Want Customers To Mask Up
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Indiana is not on Chicago's travel advisory list.
However, cases there are on the rise especially among those not vaccinated. CBS 2's Marie Saavedra reports from northwest Indiana looking into the numbers there.
Indiana's State Department of Health says 51% of those eligible to be vaccinated have had their shots. And outbreaks continue to be mostly in the unvaccinated. CBS 2 wanted to focus on two Indiana counties closest to the state line.
They are Lake County and Porter County. Porter has 26 new infections in the last four days. Lake has seen 88 new COVID cases, and the positivity rates highlight the difference in those numbers. Porter is at 3.7% Lake is at 6.7%.
To put that in perspective, both Cook County and the City of Chicago's positivity rates are lower at 3.3% and 3.1%.
The state is recommending masking for everyone over two years old, but it is only a recommendation and not followed everywhere. We found a coffee shop in Whiting asking customers to mask when they come in, even providing masks at the front door.
The owner says it's his way to take some kind of action as cases rise.
"I just can't help but think about like, families that want to bring their kids in," said Gabriel Mauch, owner of the Grindhouse Cafe. "If you're 11, you can't get vaccinated. And I want you to feel safe here so that was the case."
Those are decisions that so many businesses and families continue to make for themselves.