For state’s plans, timing matters

None of this is easy.

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and their 48 fellow governors are facing difficult decisions every day. This is, in fact, life and death.

We support the efforts Holcomb and his staff have made thus far to keep Hoosiers safe. In general, those decisions have been well thought out and based on sound advice from medical professionals.

We are, however, concerned about his decision to wait until his 2:30 p.m. Friday press briefing to announce plans for “reopening” the state. Indiana’s current stay-at-home order is set to expire less than 10 hours later, at midnight Friday.

We understand Holcomb’s desire to be able to gather as much information as possible and adjust up until his next executive order is signed. But it would seem to make more sense to announce plans a few days in advance as DeWine did Monday, four days ahead of Ohio’s stay-at-home order that was also set to expire at midnight. 

We hoped Holcomb would follow suit.

But he was asked Monday if he could share any details about plans to “reopen” the state. He said he would make those announcements Friday.

On Tuesday, he was asked if Simon Property Group, which has announced that its malls in Indiana will open Saturday, knew something that the general public does not about his plans. He said Simon does not, and that plans will be announced Friday.

The Simon issue illustrates the problem with waiting until 9.5 hours before the stay-at-home order expires to announce next steps.

Doing so gives no one a chance to plan, process new rules, ask questions or make adjustments. (For instance, DeWine on Monday announced that masks in businesses would be required for employers and customers. A day later, after hearing from constituents including the mother of an autistic boy, he pulled back and is now “strongly recommending” masks rather than requiring them.)

Businesses need to know if they ought to have staff ready to open Saturday. Employees need to know if they’ll be asked to return to work Saturday, Monday or sometime further down the road. Everyday Hoosiers simply want to know if they will have more freedom to move about or if they need to plan for another weekend at home.

Holcomb has said what he announces Friday will not be a blanket reopening of the state. Life can’t safely go back to normal all at once.

And there is not necessarily a right answer to how and when the state should reopen. The best Holcomb, or any of the governors, can do is listen the medical experts and heed their advice.

On one hand, it’s concerning to reopen anything when Indiana’s new case numbers over the last week have been higher than at any point during the pandemic. On the other, Holcomb has pointed out that numbers remain low enough that the healthcare system is not being overwhelmed.

Holcomb repeatedly said Tuesday that the “how” is just as important, perhaps more so, than the “when” in terms of reopening the state.

He may well be right about that. But timing does matter.

And Hoosiers could use more than a few hours to adjust to the changes that are coming. — R.C.