Coronavirus Pandemic: Montgomery, Greene and Darke report first deaths, schools to stay closed until May

There are now at least 1,933 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Ohio with 39 deaths, according to the Ohio Department of Health. Five of the confirmed deaths are from Miami County. In Ohio, 475 people suffering with COVID-19 have been admitted to hospitals.

Darke County announced its first coronavirus death Monday, a 76-year-old man from Greenville Health and Rehabilitation.

Montgomery County also reported its first death to the state on Monday.

Greene County announced its first coronavirus death Monday afternoon, an 87-year-old Cedarville woman who died March 26 after first showing symptoms on March 21.

>>Number of COVID-19 patients climbs; 6 Clark County residents test positive

Darke County General Health confirmed ten cases  at Greenville Health and Rehabilitation facility. There are 13 total cases in the county.

Gov. Mike DeWine provided the latest update for Ohio at 2 p.m.

The following information was announced:

• Sunday night, the state received news that Battelle can sterilize surgical masks without a daily limit. The state is very happy and knows that today they are moving forward and in a few days they will be up to full capacity.
• DeWine urged hospitals to send their samples to a neighboring hospital that does quick testing or to the Ohio Department of Health to cut down on wait times for results.
• His order closing schools has been extended to at least May 1.
• Prisoners in Ohio have been making PPE.  So far, inmates have made, 500 hospital gowns and are awaiting fabric to make cough masks.  They also are receiving the ingredients to make 1,460 gallons of hand sanitizer.
• The state has created a Homelessness Team, which will focus on the homeless population. DeWine is asking all local communities to include homeless shelters in  planning so the state can more quickly help support these Ohioans to meet the social distancing guidelines.
• Gen. Harris with the Ohio National Guard says citizens will likely start seeing more members in uniform in their cities as they plan for humanitarian efforts.
• 27,275 people have been tested in the state.
• 25 percent of the positive cases in Ohio have resulted in hospitalizations.
• 7 percent of the people tested in the state have had a positive result, state data shows.
• A projection from Ohio State University shows the state potentially peaking in cases on April 25 with the strict social distancing policies in place.

• 345 of the confirmed cases are health care workers.
• In the state, 59 percent of the ICU beds are being used, which highlights the need for the state to increase capacity, Dr. Amy Acton said.
• Some colleges are looking at graduating health care students early to get them into the workforce, Acton said.
• 100 people have been added to the unemployment call center.
• Unemployment website capacity has been increased to 20 times the amount it originally was able to hold, Lt. Gov Jon Husted said.

Public Health - Dayton & Montgomery County will provide an update at 4 p.m.

Here are the highlights:

• An estimated 250 Dayton-area businesses will have to prove to Public Health -- Dayton & Montgomery County that they are "essential" as defined by the state and are following the state's rules on health (social distancing)
• Those Dayton-area businesses will have until the end of the work day Wednesday to file paperwork justifying "essential" status and proof that rules are being followed
• Golf courses now will be allowed to operate if certain criteria are met, health Commissioner Jeff Cooper said
• Lawn care businesses will be allowed to operate now under specific restrictions, Cooper said
• Dayton's eviction policy, put in place while the state of emergency continues, is being translated into several languages to cut confusion, Mayor Nan Whaley said
• The regional drop site for unused personal protective equipment (PPE) continues to be the St. Vincent dePaul facility on Edwin C. Moses Boulevard

President Trump and the coronavirus task force are expected to hold a briefing at 5 p.m.

Here are the highlights:

• Trump said 400 ventilators will be sent to Michigan
• Trump said the task force has "talked about it" in reference to a national quarantine. He called it "unwieldy" and "pretty unlikely at this time"
• Trump said more ventilators will be sent to New York, Alabama, Louisiana
• "I don't want panic in the country," Trump said. "It will go away"
• "It's a miracle that way it's all come together," he said

Local Cases:

• Miami - 46
• Montgomery - 31
• Butler - 30
• Warren - 20
• Darke - 13
• Clark - 6
• Shelby - 4
• Greene - 4
• Preble - 2
• Champaign - 3
• Clinton - 3
• Mercer - 2
• Auglaize - 2
• Logan - 3

Here’s what you need to know:

• Sunday at 2 p.m. Gov. Mike DeWine spoke at a conference about the FDA's decision to limit Battelle to sterilizing 10,000 masks a day when they have the capability of sterilizing up to 160,000 a day in Ohio alone.

• Late Sunday night, Battelle was approved by the FDA to decontaminate PPE to meet the growing demand during the COVID-19 crisis, according to a company release.

>>Battelle receives FDA approval; 160k masks will be sanitized in Ohio each day

• Battelle's machines are capable of cleaning 80,000 M-95 masks per day, and Ohio has two of these machines, located in Columbus and Beavercreek.
• Hospitals will collect their used masks. The masks will be wrapped in plastic bags and sent to Battelle.
• The masks then undergo a decontamination cycle using a concentrated hydrogen peroxide vapor
• The masks are then repackaged and sent back to the hospitals they came from.

>>Coronavirus: Preble County confirms first positive case

Sunday, President Trump offered at a news conference about what the future of COVID-19 will look like for Americans.

• Social distancing guidelines to be followed until April 30.
• An estimated 2.2 million people would have died if no action was taken against COVID-19.
• "Millions and millions" of PPE equipment items arrived in New York this morning, Trump said.