05/21/2020

2020-05-21 OH Gov. DeWine COVID-19 Update

Updated daily at 2 p.m. - https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/covid-19/ 

New orders/actions/measures

• Indoor dining and campgrounds are able to open today.
• Additional guidelines and opening dates were released today – see below.
• Press conferences will resume on Tuesday, May 26 following the Memorial Day holiday.

Lt. Governor Husted opened today by announcing additional industry protocols and opening dates.  The following businesses, if they follow the opening protocols, will be allowed to open on the following dates:

• Bowling alleys – May 26
• Mini-golf – May 26
• Batting cages – May 26
• Fishing and charter fishing – May 26
• Skills training for all sports – May 26
• This does NOT allow for competitions, games or scrimmages for contact sports – just skills training.
• School building and facilities will also be allowed to open for this skills training and the non-contact sports that are already allowed.  Whether a school building or facility does open will be up to the individual school district.
• Wedding reception and banquet facilities – June 1
• Subject to similar protocols as restaurants.  Spacing will control the number of people allowed, not a percentage of occupancy.
• However, maximum capacity will be capped at 300 people, whether or not the facility could accommodate more and still comply with protocols.

Most of the protocols are already posted on Responsible RestartOhio webpage and should all be posted by end of day tomorrow.

Governor DeWine focused his remarks today on the state’s ongoing work to address minority health disparities and the recent work of the Minority Health Strike Force.  He opened by talking about multiple data points showing the disparate impact of COVID-19 on minority communities.  The state’s COVID-19 Dashboard added two new tools today:

• The ability to filter data on the main page by county for race and ethnicity
• A map of the Ohio Opportunity Index at the census tract level by county. 

The Governor added the Strike Force’s work augments ongoing work - Recovery Ohio, Help Me Grow, lead paint remediation programs, the Imagination Library and others.  Cincinnati Vice Mayor Christopher Smitherman, a member of the Strike Force, joined the press conference today to talk about their work.  He said the recommendations contained in the preliminary reported focused on 4 key categories of recommendations:

• Messaging – reaching the minority communities where they are through appropriate media by trusted community leaders
• Testing – testing in vulnerable populations
• Accessibility – making sure clinics, hospitals and all healthcare sites are accessible and providing accessible information
• Collaboration – working with key community partners – NAACP, fraternal organizations, local chambers of commerce, faith communities, existing state commissions – to communicate with minority populations

Mr. Smitherman stressed that it is crucial that the state support these efforts with adequate funding.  He also said this will be an ongoing effort – those education, messaging and access measures will be particularly important as testing becomes more widespread and as vaccination efforts begin.  The preliminary report should be available today, with the final report due in mid-June.

The Governor added that some of the measures will include:

• Culturally appropriate notification
• Equal access to healthcare services
• Use of data to prioritize high need areas
• Culturally appropriate education efforts on both COVID and health disparities

Actions today include:

• Appointment of a point person in the Department of Health to work as a coordinator on these efforts.  Will focus on:
• Ensuring adequate data collection to allow for focused responses
• Oversee the implementation of the Strike Force recommendations
• Partnering with Us for Us Coalition on a new communication campaign, Stay in the Fight, to focus on minority communities
• Partnering with Ohio Association of Community Health Centers (OACHC) – the state’s Federally Qualified Health Centers – to expand testing in minority communities
• Partnering with OACHC and Nationwide Children’s Hospital to distribute COVID kits to families, including
• Masks, hand sanitizer, informational pamphlets
• Hiring additional public health workers at state and local level from the communities – will be doing contact tracing
• $1 million for grants for faith and community-based groups to do appropriate mental health education in minority and rural communities

Note: For an archive of all COVID-19 related First Alerts from Calfee, which are separate from these emails and focused on specific business topics, please visit the Calfee COVID-19 Resource Center: https://www.calfee.com/covid-19-resource-center

Other items of note

• The Senate on Wednesday blocked the House's attempt to rein in Department of Health orders by refusing to concur with amendments to a measure (SB 1) on rule restrictions.  The vote came despite support for the House's intent previously stated by the bill (SB 1) sponsors – Sen. Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) and Sen. Kristina Roegner (R-Hudson). Those lawmakers have also teamed up on similar standalone legislation (SB 311).  The House's move was opposed by Democrats and questioned by some Senate Republicans, although Senate President Larry Obhof (R-Medina) has not ruled out revisiting the legislature's authority over health orders. Gov. Mike DeWine, however, promised to veto the language.
• More than 46,000 Ohioans filed initial claims for unemployment last week, driving the total over the last nine weeks above 1. 2 million, the Department of Job and Family Services (JFS) reported Thursday.  The figure of 46,062 is down from 51,125 the previous week but still well above typical figures from before the coronavirus pandemic. JFS reported it has distributed more than $2.8 billion in unemployment compensation payments to some 619,000 claimants. The agency has processed over 92% of the 1 million applications it has received.  The department has also issued more than $21 million in payments for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, a program of expanded eligibility for people who were self-employed or otherwise did not qualify. More than 161,000 Ohioans have applied for that program, which was recently the subject of what the agency described as a limited personal information leak.
• Nationally, the U.S. Department of Labor reported 2.4 million initial claims in the week ending May 16, down 249,000 compared to the previous week’s revised level.
• Recent public health warnings about a severe and puzzling inflammatory syndrome linked to covid-19 have focused on children. But some doctors say they are also seeing the illness, similar to Kawasaki disease, in a few young adults.  A 20-year-old is being treated at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego; a 25-year-old has been diagnosed at Northwell Health’s Long Island Jewish Medical Center; and several patients in their early 20s are hospitalized with the syndrome at NYU Langone in New York City.  Jennifer Lighter, a pediatric infectious diseases doctor at NYU Langone, said younger children with the condition seem to have symptoms that look more like traditional Kawasaki, which is characterized by inflammation of the blood vessels. But teens and young adults have more of an “overwhelming” response involving the heart and multiple organs.

Ohio COVID-19 Data Curves

The following are graphic representations of reported cases, hospitalizations, ICU admissions and deaths using Ohio Department of Health data and expanded CDC definitions.

Wednesday – 287,609 tested – 2.46% of the population – 10,007 additional tests since Tuesday

Thursday - 297,085 tested – 2.54% of the population – 9,476 additional tests since Wednesday

Key websites

General state updates - https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/covid-19/

Office of Small Business Relief - https://businesshelp.ohio.gov/ 

Data dashboard - https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/covid-19/home/dashboard

Dispute Resolution Commission - https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/covid-19/families-and-individuals/stay-at-home-information/Guidance-on-Dispute-Resolutions-for-Essential-and-Non-Essential-Businesses

Ventilator inventory - https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/covid-19/home/vent-inventory. 

Ohio Manufacturing Alliance to Fight COVID-19 - https://repurposingproject.com/ 

Election information - https://www.ohiosos.gov/elections/voters/  

Closure order FAQ - https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/covid-19/home/Stay-at-Home-Information/Stay-At-Home-Order-Frequently-Asked-Questions

Unemployment compensation - http://jfs.ohio.gov/ouio/CoronavirusAndUI.stm

Mental health resources - https://mha.ohio.gov/Health-Professionals/About-Mental-Health-and-Addiction-Treatment/Emergency-Preparedness/Coronavirus

Ohio benefits application - https://benefits.ohio.gov/

SharedWork Ohio - http://jfs.ohio.gov/ouio/SharedWorkOhio/

Support resources for adults - https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/covid-19/home/resources/resources-for-adults-coping-with-the-covid-19-pandemic

Find your local health district - https://odh.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/odh/find-local-health-districts

Job openings - https://jobseeker.ohiomeansjobs.monster.com/home.aspx

COVID-19 checklists - https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/covid-19/home/COVID-19-Checklists/ 

Business resources - https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/covid-19/home/resources-for-economic-support

Banking pandemic resources and relief programs - https://www.ohiobankersleague.com/customers 

Pandemic child care center information - http://jfs.ohio.gov/cdc/CoronavirusAndChildcareForFamilies/ 

Checklist for essential travel - https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/covid-19/home/stay-at-home-information/essential-travel