Commissioners update on COVID-19

The Clay County Commissioners want to give you an up-date on the closure of our County Offices and Departments. All County Offices, except the Clay County Justice Center and the Highway Department, will remained closed for the pubic and employees through Monday, April 20th. The Commissioners will make a careful evaluation and determination on our next steps for the County based on the recommendations and Executive Orders from our Governor and President.

Our county elected officials, department heads and county employees remain available to help and assist anyone who is needing help. As we have suggested in the past, call the phone number of the office where you need help. Leave your name and phone number and someone will call you back. It may be that your business can be completed over the phone. If not, an employee may meet you at the Courthouse to help you with your problem or concern. All of our employees stand ready to help and assist you during this unusual, stressful and tough time for all of us. All county phone numbers are posted on the east and west doors of the Courthouse and elsewhere in today’s paper.

We encourage you to do your part to help eliminate the spread of the Virus in Clay County and the Wabash Valley. All of us must do our part—not just some of our neighbors or some of our family members, but all of us. Social distancing seems to be the biggest deterrent in helping to eliminate and reduce the spread of this terrible Virus which has claimed too many lives in the United States and Indiana. We must do our part to get this crises totally under control.

If you must go out to purchase food or for some other essential reason, we ask you to wear a mask, and plastic or rubber gloves. It makes good sense to take a hand sanitizer with you, and when you come out of a building and before entering your car, to remove your gloves and to use your hand sanitizer.

We believe the next couple of weeks will be crucial to control and to reduce/eliminate the spread of the Virus in Clay County and the Wabash Valley.

We want to thank everyone in the County who has been practicing and encouraging others to do social distancing. We want to express our great thanks to all of the first responders in the County, all of our doctors and health care personnel, our hospital personnel, our law and public safety personnel, our grocery workers, our county health department employees who have been doing a great job working with our citizens on information and ways to help control the Virus, our EMA Director, and our county employees who have answered the phone, and have gone to the courthouse or another office to help and assist our citizens with their concerns during these tough times. Your work, efforts, and dedication has been noticed and recognized for your helpful assistance to many people.

Please do not forget to check on a friend, neighbor, or family member who may need your help in delivering food to their house, or picking up a medication for them, or for any other essential cause or reason. You can call them to see if they need any help or assistance.

We encourage everyone to pull together, and to do the right things to help each other to be safe and remain healthy. We also want to thank all of our faith leaders as well. You are very important people during this ugly time of fear, frustration, and emptiness. Thank you for organizing and providing church services to help us during this time of fear, doubt, and the unknown.

Once again, we are asking and stressing that all of us must do our part. We are only as strong as our weakest link. That means all of us must do social distancing, wash our hands, and do only what is truly essential during this time of crises.

Tomorrow will be brighter—we are one day closer to recovery. We are one day closer to seeing the lifting of the dark clouds, and seeing the rays of sunshine once again.

Please stay safe, healthy, and stay at home. May God richly bless Clay County and each of you. (from) Clay County Commissioners Bryan Allender, Marty Heffner, and Paul Sinders