Ohio Governor Mike DeWine extended the K-12 school closure today until May 1 during a press conference at the Ohio Statehouse. “We originally rolled out an order that separated our students from their physical classrooms for three weeks. We are today giving an additional order that Dr. Acton will sign that will take this to May 1, which happens to be a Friday. We will reevaluate this as we get closer to May 1”.
When asked about the possibility that this school year could go into the summer, Governor DeWine stated, “The way we are proceeding is school really continues. It’s not continuing in the calssroom, in the physical building, but it is continuing”. DeWine went on to state, “It’s clear we are not going to be back in the classroom before May 1, and so we want to signal to everybody today you can plan, you need to continue on with education until May 1. Is it possible that that will have to continue the way that it is now – remotely, until the end of the school year – yes it is. That is certainly possible, we just don’t know yet”. When asked about the possibility of extending school out to June or July, Gov. DeWine stated that while it is possible, “I don’t know that that is what we would do”. He added, “I think it’s more likely that we would try to get by through this school year with the remote learning.” DeWine mentioned that there are some superintendents who are concerned that their particular students are going to be further behind due to the fact that not every school or family has the ability to do distance learning. “These are things that we are going to have to try to figure out as we move forward”.
With regard to Ohio’s prisons, Governor DeWine made mention that prisons are working hard to make additional PPE. “So far they have made 500 hospital gowns, they will be able to make 44,000 as soon as they get the additional fabric”. Moreover, they will also be able start making 5,000 masks similar to surgical masks with the hope of making up to 2M in total. In mid April, once supplies come in, Ohio prisoners will also be making 14,000 gallons of hand sanitizer. Material is also currently being sourced to make additional face-shields and masks.
Major General John C. Harris, Jr’s Update:
Major General John C. Harris, Jr., Ohio Adjutant General gave an update from the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in Columbus, which is the nerve center for the entire response to the COVID-19 crisis. “The main effort that’s happening here is the obvious preparation for the medical capacity surge that we know we are going to need as this COVID spread peaks,” Gen. Harris stated. These efforts include, but are not limited to leasing or acquiring facilities, building out facilities in partnership with the regions, acquiring equipment and distributing that equipment where it is most needed, surging personal and helping with staffing, as well as surging PPE. “The best thing that is happening here in Ohio is this collaboration out in the regions. These healthcare providers are doing a fantastic job of coordinating and planning their strategy for patient care so that they can maximize their resources.”
Additionally, General Harris stated, “You’re going to see service members in uniform in your community doing things in increasing numbers here in the very near future”. Gen Harris continued, “They will be conducting site assessments, but the most important thing they are going to be doing is leasoning with these regional leaders to make sure that we know what their requirements are and that we are bring the right requirement to the right place”.
Dr. Amy Acton’s Update:
Dr. Acton gave an update on the COVID-19 stats for the state of Ohio. Those are as follows:
- 1,933 confirmed Ohio cases
- 475 hospitalizations (25% of cases)
- 8% of cases are requiring ICU care
- 39 deaths that span 19 counties
- Cases are confirmed in over 70 counties (there are 88 counties total in Ohio)
- 27,000 people have been tested in Ohio
As more data is fed into the modeling software, Dr. Acton still believes the peak will occur around mid to late April depending on how successful we are at staying at home and social distancing, which are actions that Ohioans can take to push the peak out a little farther.
