Coronavirus Pandemic: What you need to know Friday

The Ohio Liquor Control Commission held an emergency meeting this morning to pass an emergency rule that would limit hours for on-premises sales or consumption and expansion of sales of beer, wine, mixed beverages and spirits for off-premises consumption.

The vote was unanimous after several bar and restaurant owners commented asking the commission not to pass the rule.

Gov. Mike DeWine made the following announcements Thursday:

• He is asking the Pharmacy and Medical Boards to examine the issues surrounding hydroxychloroquine.
• The state reported its highest daily count of COVID-19 cases. Nine of the top 10 days have been in the last three weeks.
• The state continues to see fewer visits to the ER involving people complaining of symptoms.
• There were 10 fewer counties this week that fell into the Level 3 Red Category of the Public Health Advisory System map.
• The governor also announced new guidance for mass gatherings

The public health advisory system map update (as of Thursday):

• Alert Level 1 (Yellow): This level means a county has triggered zero or one of the indicators and there is an active exposure and spread. Logan and Champaign are at this level.
• Alert Level 2 (Orange): This level means a county has triggered two or three indicators and there is an increased risk of exposure and spread. Counties at this level are seeing cases that are growing in the last two weeks. Preble, Mercer, Darke, Auglaize, Miami, Shelby, Greene, Clinton, Warren, and Butler are at this level.
• Alert Level 3 (Red): This level means a county has triggered four or five indicators and there is a very high exposure and spread. Risk is very high. Montgomery is at this level.
• Alert Level 4 (Purple): The highest level means a county has triggered six or seven indicators and there is severe exposure and spread. Officials say to stay home as much as possible when in this level. There are no current counties on this list.Samsung

Things you should know today, Friday:

• COVID-19 testing cancelled Monday at Montgomery County Fairgrounds
• Middletown schools suspend all extra curricular activities
• DeWine issued an updated COVID-19 travel advisory this week
• Montgomery County pop-up testing sites yield 5.6 percent positive rate
• GWOC goes conference-only for fall athletic events
• Child care providers will be permitted to return to normal, statutory ratios and class sizes beginning Aug. 9.

More things you should know today:

• A Huber Heights man received results from a COVID-19 test he never took
• ‘Law & Order: SVU’ star Ice-T talks about family’s close call
• NFL medical chief not surprised by player opt outs, positive cases

LATEST STATE DATA: As of Friday afternoon, there have been at least 91,159 confirmed or probable cases in the state, 3,489 deaths, and 10,790 hospitalizations, according to the Ohio Department of Health. 65,788 people are presumed to have recovered from the virus in the state.

Ohio has an estimated population of approximately 11.7 million, census records show.

[ Local cases, deaths reported to Ohio Department of Health ]

There have been 1,463,508 people tested for the coronavirus in Ohio, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

A total of 10,312 health care workers have tested positive which is about 11 percent of the cases.

[ Local cases, deaths reported to Ohio Department of Health ]

Cox Media Group