Coronavirus Pandemic: More testing sites to be added, unemployment rate down

The focus today is COVID-19 testing for people living in ZIP codes Gov. Mike DeWine and the Ohio Department of Health have identified as hot spots -- in Montgomery, Greene, Clark and Warren counties.

Ohio is generally on a downward trend for coronavirus cases, with the exception of southwest Ohio, the governor said Thursday, and the trend lines in those counties are “worrisome.”

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The top three ZIP codes for coronavirus cases in Montgomery County include parts of Riverside, Huber Heights and Trotwood. Hot ZIP codes are 45424, 45417, 45426.

Greene County is seeing a significant spike in Xenia and Fairborn. Hot ZIP codes are 45324, 45385

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In Clark County, the Dole Fresh Vegetables Co. plant in Springfield and an outbreak at a nursing home are a part of the spike in that county. Hot ZIP codes are 45505, 45506, 45503

Hot spot ZIP codes in Warren County have been identified as 45036, 45040

Things you should know today:

• The City of Beavercreek has cancelled their Fourth of July parade and has made changes to the annual fireworks show which will still continue. This year fireworks may be viewed from the Mall at Fairfield Commons parking lot instead of Rotary Park, as custom in previous years.
• Kettering City Schools has cancelled a planned in-person graduation ceremony that was supposed to happen in July. “After speaking with Public Health Dayton and Montgomery County, we have made the very difficult decision to cancel this event. Through these discussions, it was made very evident that restrictions would be in place on July 25th that would prevent us from holding a ceremony that would allow families to celebrate our seniors,” High School Principal Tyler Alexander said.
• Ohio has 788,000 unemployed workers as of May which is down 211,000 from 999,000 in April, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. The unemployment rate for Ohio was 13.7 percent in May which was down from a revised 17.6 percent in April. However, May unemployment rate for Ohio increased from 4.1 percent in May 2019. Unemployment has increased by 551,000 in the past 12 months from 237,000. The state’s nonagricultural wage and salary employment increased 127,100 over the month, from a revised 4,704,000 in April to 4,831,100 in May.
• Contact practice and scrimmages for all sports can resume June 22, the second phase of resuming athletic competition, as long as safety protocols are observed. Local sports organizers and school leaders will decide when to proceed.
• The percentage of children testing positive for COVID-19 at Rainbow Babies in Cleveland is increasing, said Dr. Amy Edwards, a pediatric infectious disease doctor and associate medical director for infection control at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital in Cleveland. “It’s to be expected as the state opens that we’re going to start to see more positive kids, but that rate has been going up, and it is something we’re keeping our eye on. It hasn’t gone up dramatically, about 5 - 6 percent or so, but it has been a steady increase, and it has not stopped increasing as of yet,” she said.
• A new Hospital PPE Readiness Stockpile will be compiled and stored by Ohio hospitals throughout the state. Items will be distributed to residents and staff at long-term care facilities should there be an increase in COVID-19 cases, DeWine said. Each hospital will have a different amount of stockpile calculated specifically for the region.
• The coronavirus.ohio.gov/JobSearch website will transition back to Ohio’s regular job search website because most of Ohio has reopened, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said. OhioMeansJobs.com. OhioMeansJobs.com currently has more than 120,000 job postings, with almost half paying more than $50,000.
• Disparity in testing outcomes: While the increase in the number of Montgomery County cases was not unanticipated, Health Commissioner Jeff Cooper said, the disparity in outcomes is worrisome. Since May 12 in Montgomery County (the last time Public Health -- Dayton & Montgomery County held a news briefing about the pandemic), there has been one case for every 556 residents. That breaks down to one case for every 347 black residents and one case for every 886 white residents. “Clearly, we have a disparity in testing outcomes for races,” Cooper said.
• Montgomery County COVID-19 cases totaled 433 on May 12 and 1,118 as of Thursday, Cooper said. That represents a 150% increase in Montgomery County cases, 200 of which are linked to an official outbreak.
• Public Health -- Dayton & Montgomery County has confirmed outbreaks (or clusters) representing 173 cases at 13 workplace locations in Montgomery County since April 13. They include Community Blood Center, Hospice of Dayton, Energizer Global Auto Care, Chewy Fulfillment Center in Vandalia, Friendship Village retirement community in Trotwood, Fuyao Glass America in Moraine, Dryden Road Pentecostal Church, Crocs Distribution Center, Franklin Iron and Metal, St. Leonard CHI Living Communities, Respiratory and Nursing Center of Dayton, Sugar Creek Brandworthy Food Solutions and the Montgomery County Jail. “It’s not just about those locations,” Cooper said, it’s about the health department doing the necessary things to help businesses and people remain healthy in the COVID-19 environment. Outbreaks “could easily happen at a restaurant, or a big box store or any other location,” he said.
• The wearing of face masks was strongly emphasized as a way to cut down on spreading the virus. Cooper, Mayor Nan Whaley, Warren County Health District Commissioner Duane Stansbury, Deputy Health Commissioner Noah Stuby with Greene County Public Health and Sarah Hackenbracht, president/CEO, Greater Dayton Hospital Association all pushed the wearing of face masks in public. “It’s been over 100 days that we’ve been asking people not to go places,” Whaley said. “You need to ask yourself: Is it worth me getting COVID to be at that event?”

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

• Casinos, racinos, amusement parks and water parks will be permitted to reopen today, provided they follow the guidelines on social distancing, crowd control as well as the other state-mandated requirements to stop the spread of the virus. Officials at Miami Valley Gaming are preparing for this week’s resumption of business.
• Pop-up testing continues throughout the state. Here’s the map with locations.

LATEST STATE DATA: As of Friday afternoon, there have been at least 43,731 confirmed or probable cases in the state, 2,667 deaths, and 7,167 hospitalizations, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

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

Of the state’s positive cases, 11% are from Ohio’s prisons. At those prisons, there has been an increase in testing.

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

There have been 612,854 people tested for coronavirus in Ohio.

In the state, 6,323 cases are health care workers, which is 14 percent of the cases.

What else you should to know today:

• Cases in South Korea are on the rise; They are stable in Beijing
• Yellow Springs Village Council makes it illegal to not wear face covering
• Several area long-term facilities report increases in COVID-19 cases

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