Throughout the week, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Lt. Governor Jon Husted provided updates on Ohio's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as other state initiatives.
For the fifth week, Governor DeWine toured COVID-19 vaccination clinics throughout the state, including stops in Clinton, Franklin, and Clark counties. Saturday's Pickaway County visit marks the 24th county Governor DeWine has visited on clinic tours.
In the photo above, Governor DeWine and First Lady Fran DeWine tour a mass vaccination site at Ohio State University's Schottenstein Center. They?are joined by Dr. Kristina M. Johnson, president of the Ohio State University, and Dr. Andy Thomas, chief clinical officer at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.?
On?Monday, Governor DeWine announced that the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) issued a simplified health order that streamlines previous orders into a single order that underscores the most important tenants of infection prevention.?
"Our understanding of this virus and how it spreads is much more advanced than it was when we first learned about coronavirus in early 2020," said Governor DeWine. "As we move to begin a new chapter in our fight against the pandemic, where more and more Ohioans are being vaccinated,?this new order will focus on our best defense measures against COVID-19, such as wearing a mask, social distancing, limiting large gatherings, being outside, and practicing good hand hygiene."
The orders, which were modified by ODH on Friday, are found at the following links:
Governor DeWine announced on Monday that he has asked Ohio's local health departments and vaccine providers that are offering the Pfizer vaccine to coordinate with local high schools to offer vaccinations to high school students who are 16 years or older. Pfizer is the only vaccine that is currently approved for children as young as 16.?
This announcement followed last week's announcement that vaccination clinics will be offered at all higher education campuses in the coming weeks.?
"As with our colleges, by taking vaccines to schools, we?ll increase the percentage of people in this age group who choose to get vaccinated," said Governor DeWine.
OhioRISE
As part of the Ohio Department of Medicaid?s managed care overhaul, Governor DeWine announced the ?Resilience through Integrated Systems and Excellence (OhioRISE) program. The program will feature new, intensive, community-based services that will serve youth in their homes and communities, rather than in congregate settings that can be far away from a child?s home and support system.?
Over the next ten months, Aetna Better Health of Ohio will work with the Ohio Department of Medicaid and the Family and Children First Cabinet Council to launch OhioRISE to serve all of Ohio?s eligible children. To enroll in OhioRISE, children must be Medicaid eligible, have significant behavioral health needs, and require enhanced services.
On Wednesday, Governor DeWine and Lt. Governor Husted announced a new broadband expansion project located in the City of East Cleveland. The pilot project will connect residents to reliable, low-cost high-speed internet.?
?East Cleveland, like many other urban and rural communities, has lacked both the infrastructure and access to low-cost broadband for many residents. This new project plans to provide both the infrastructure and access for up to 2,000 families,? said Governor DeWine. ?All of the partners in the public-private partnership have come together to bring access to high-speed internet for families throughout East Cleveland.??
The broad public-private partnership, spurred by BroadbandOhio, includes Case Western Reserve University, Connect, Cuyahoga County, Eaton Corporation, East Cleveland City Schools, GE Lighting- a Savant company, Greater Cleveland Partnership, InnovateOhio, Microsoft, OARnet, PCs for People, University Hospitals, and the Urban League of Cleveland.?
?As soon as I learned that most families in East Cleveland didn?t have access to high-speed internet,?I told the InnovateOhio team we?ve got to fix this,? said Lt. Governor Husted. ?Starting today, more than 1,000 Ohio families, with many more to come, will have the opportunity to access affordable, high-speed internet ? allowing students to do their homework online, parents to work online and families to be better able to participate in the modern economy, education and healthcare systems.?
The project will connect more than 1,000 households in its first phase, with plans to scale up access to 2,000 households. East Cleveland households will pay $15 per month for internet speeds of 50 Mbps for download and 10 Mpbs for upload (twice the minimum federal definition of high-speed internet).??
The first antenna tower has been activated on the roof of Mayfair Elementary School. Additional tower sites will go live over the course of the coming months to increase service to the areas of the pilot program.?
The pilot program includes $650,000 in financial investments from BroadbandOhio, Cuyahoga County, Eaton Corporation, GE Lighting- a Savant company,?Greater Cleveland Partnership, InnovateOhio, Microsoft, and PCs for People.?Additional investments will be forthcoming.
This pilot program builds on the DeWine-Husted Administration?s efforts to expand and enhance broadband connectivity for businesses and families throughout Ohio.?
Also on Wednesday, Governor DeWine issued the following statement regarding Jack Hanna, Director Emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium:
?Fran and I were very sad to learn of Jack Hanna?s diagnosis of Alzheimer?s that his family so bravely shared with Ohio and the world today.? ?
?Over the years, Fran and I have had the opportunity to take our kids and grandkids to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium and The Wilds.? When we were there with Jack, we were so fortunate to experience his passion for animals and the natural world.
?Along with our fellow Ohioans, we wish Jack, Suzi, and their daughters our best as they navigate the challenges of this disease and will be keeping them in our prayers.?? ?
On Thursday, Governor DeWine outlined the progression of Ohio's economic recovery.
Ohio?s gross domestic product (GDP) outpaced the nation in the final quarter of calendar year 2020. The U.S. GDP is estimated to have grown 4.3 percent in the quarter, and Ohio?s GDP is estimated to have increased 5 percent during the same timeframe.
Ohio?s unemployment rate in February 2021 was 5 percent and the national rate was 6.2 percent.
This month, Ohio?s tax revenues exceeded the monthly estimate by $41 million, or 2.6 percent, and remain 4.3 percent above the estimate for the fiscal year-to-date. This is a dramatic improvement from one year ago.
These positive developments follow several steps taken by Governor DeWine at the onset of the pandemic to ensure that the state budget remained balanced and stable, including a freeze on state government spending, cuts in state staffing costs, and refinanced state bonds.
"I made these hard choices early on, tightening our belt because we did not know what the future held," said Governor DeWine. "A strong post-pandemic economy directly depends on defeating the virus, and as we are working hard to vaccinate Ohioans, we are seeing good signs in our economy as well."??
UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE
Using federal dollars strategically to shore up Ohio's unemployment system will also contribute to Ohio's year of recovery. On Thursday, Governor DeWine recommended to the General Assembly that Ohio use a portion of its federal COVID-19 relief and recovery dollars to pay off the Unemployment Insurance loan owed to the federal government.??
"This loan was caused by the global pandemic, and paying it off now will free Ohio employers from this burden so they can instead focus on getting employees across our state back to work.," said Governor DeWine "This will help small businesses owners and employees, and?I look forward to working with our partners in the General Assembly on legislation to pay off the loan."
CASE INCREASES & OHIO PUBLIC HEALTH ADVISORY SYSTEM UPDATE
This week is the second week where the cases over two weeks per 100,000 people have gone up by more than 10. Two weeks ago, Ohio's cases per 100,000 people were 146.9. As of Thursday, cases per 100,000 people is at 183.7.?
"We are moving in the wrong direction from our statewide goal of 50 cases per 100,000 people," said Governor DeWine. "We are not seeing the runaway case growth we saw during the fall yet, so we can still turn this around if more people continue to get vaccinated and we continue to mask and social distance."
The increases in case rates are reflected in this week?s Ohio Public Health Advisory System map.?New health data compiled by the Ohio Department of Health shows case increases in 53 counties over the past week.
Level changes include:
Franklin County moved to the watch list following sustained increases in cases and in COVID-related healthcare use including emergency department and outpatient visits and hospitalizations for COVID-19.
Putnam County moved from orange to red.
Carroll, Mercer, and Morgan counties moved from yellow to orange.
Brown and Noble counties dropped from orange to yellow.
According to Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, chief medical officer at the Ohio Department of Health,?Ohio and the nation are enduring another wave of COVID-19 due to variants of the?original virus that are more contagious and more deadly. Variant counts in Ohio jumped from 92 on March 12 to 797 on Thursday, a doubling time of about every 9-10 days.
MULTISYSTEM INFLAMMATORY SYNDROME IN CHILDREN
Although COVID-19 has historically affected older Ohioans, children are not immune to getting sick with coronavirus, and in some rare cases, kids can develop multisystem inflammatory syndrome. Since the start of the pandemic, 166 children have been treated for this syndrome.
According to Dr. Dustin Fleck,?chief of rheumatology at Dayton Children?s Hospital, this syndrome is unique because it is not associated with an active COVID-19 infection. Rather, symptoms usually develop 2-4 weeks after a child has a symptomatic or asymptomatic COVID-19 infection.
The syndrome is characterized by fever and inflammation throughout the body, specifically targeting the heart. The syndrome can also target the gastrointestinal system, liver, lungs, kidneys, and brain. Parents should look for symptoms of abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, rash, swelling of hands and feet, and redness of eyes.
Dr. Fleck's full explanation of?multisystem inflammatory syndrome is available on the?Ohio Channel's YouTube page.
CHOOSE OHIO FIRST SCHOLARSHIP
Lt. Governor Husted on Thursday highlighted a scholarship that boosts Ohio?s efforts to strengthen the state?s workforce in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
The scholarship, part of the Choose Ohio First (COF) program, will support an estimated 3,400 Ohio students who are new to the program, along with an additional 3,000 existing COF scholars. The scholarship awards a total of $69,826,882 over the next five years.
?The Choose Ohio First scholarship is helping Ohio students get a head start on their future careers, preparing them for in-demand jobs?including?coding and cybersecurity,??said Lt. Governor Husted, who led efforts to create the program as then-Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives. ?This new investment shows how valuable a STEM education ? and keeping those students in Ohio ? is to the state. I encourage high school students to consider the?Choose Ohio First program as they are looking at their future college education.?
This new COF scholarship will support students completing programs in the STEM disciplines at 57 colleges and universities across the state, including several schools that are new to the program.
BMV UPDATES
Lt. Governor Husted also announced enhancements to the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicle's (BMV) ?Get In Line, Online? system.
The update allows customers to check in at the deputy registrar agency by using a QR code, located on the BMV deputy registrar storefront.
Instead of checking in at the self-service kiosk and waiting inside the agency, customers may now wait in their vehicle and will receive a text message with instructions when it is their turn to return to the agency to complete their transaction.
On March 16, QR codes were rolled out to approximately 10-20 agencies. By May, most agencies will have this ?Get in Line, Online? enhancement available to customers.
The BMV is also reminding customers that the COVID-19 automatic extension that was applied to Ohio driver licenses, identification cards, and vehicle registrations is ending soon.
Also on Thursday,?Governor DeWine virtually hosted the 41st Annual Governor's Holocaust Commemoration.
The memorial event included a prerecorded Q&A with Sgt. Robert Coyne, a 94-year-old World War II veteran from Newark who helped liberate concentration camp and work camp prisoners in Germany while serving in the Army in 1945.
The commemoration, presented by Governor DeWine and the Ohio Jewish Communities, coincided with national Days of Remembrance ? Yom Hashoah ? a remembrance of those lost to Nazi crimes against humanity between 1933 and 1945.
On Thursday, Lt. Governor Husted stopped by the Ashland County Health Department?s local vaccine clinic at University Hospitals Samaritan Medical Center where he thanked all of the healthcare providers and volunteers who are helping to get Ohioans vaccinated in the area.
On Friday, Governor DeWine announced he has signed the following Executive Orders:
Additionally, Governor DeWine made several appointments, including to the Edison State Community College Board of Trustees, Banking Commission, Ohio AMBER Alert Advisory Committee, Technical Advisory Council, among others.
As of Friday, there have been 1,035,552 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 in Ohio. Additionally, 18,827 confirmed and probable COVID-19 deaths have occurred in the state. A total of 53,960 people have been hospitalized, including 7,518 admissions to intensive care units.
For more information on Ohio's response to COVID-19, visit?coronavirus.ohio.gov?or call 1-833-4-ASK-ODH.
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