INDIANAPOLIS — Against the backdrop of pleas from hospital systems across Central Indiana for people to do everything they can to slow the spread of COVID-19, New Year's Eve celebrations in most counties will go on without any oversight from local and state leaders.
Pandemic-related safety measures are left up to businesses and the people going out to decide.
"We're hoping to find ourselves probably on Mass Ave. for midnight when the ball drops in New York," Christa Szilagyi, of Indianapolis, said. "We want to share a kiss."
Szilagyi and her boyfriend Rune Bothwick say they understand why so many people want to go out. Since March 2020, most people who've tried to follow all the guidelines related to pandemic safety have missed out on a lot of things considered normal before the pandemic.
"It feels like we went through the worst of it and now we're trying to figure out how to get back to normal, but it's taking a lot longer to get back to normal," Szilagyi said.
The couple is vaccinated, so they feel comfortable going out. In an ideal world, they'd like to see businesses put some measures in place ahead of the New Year's Eve holiday.
"I think at the very least, just trying to maintain a max limit on guests coming in. I think at the very least they could half capacity it or something," she said.
A Twitter thread from a well-known IU doctor, Gabriel Bosslet, found there's a least one business in Indianapolis taking some proactive measures.
Bar One Fourteen is requiring people to show proof of being vaccinated or have proof of negative COVID test within 72 hours to be allowed inside.
As of Thursday, WRTV was not able to find any other businesses implementing a requirement like this for their customers. In Monroe County, there is a still a mask mandate in place which businesses must follow.
Szilagyi shares this advice as we all continue to deal with this pandemic.
"Everybody just needs to go into any business with understanding and empathy," she said. "I think that a lot of people have lacked empathy in this pandemic, pointing fingers and pointing blame but we're all to blame in some sense."
Contact WRTV Reporter Cornelius Hocker at cornelius.hocker@wrtv.com, Facebook, or Instagram
