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Coronavirus Pandemic: Adult daycare, senior centers open next month; new testing for assisted living announced

By WHIO Staff
By WHIO Staff

Gov. Mike DeWine will be having a press conference today at 2 p.m.

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The following announcements have been made:

  • A new Public Health Advisory System map was released today. Moving to Level 3 Red category are Clark and Preble Counties. Montgomery County has dropped out of the Level 3 Red category and is now a Level 2 Orange County. The remaining counties in the Miami Valley have remained unchanged.
  • Dr. David James, Superintendent of Akron Public Schools, said its district has gone entirely remote for the first nine weeks of the year. He said all students have been provided Chromebooks. Schedules have been set up with morning meetings with teachers and also virtual art and music classes.
  • The 7-day rolling average for test positivity rates continues to decline in Ohio with a 4.1 percent rate Thursday.
  • Belpre City Schools in Washington County is one of the districts that is going back to school 5-days per week. Superintendent Jeff Greenly said the district has plans in place in the event its county does enter the Level 3 or Level 4 health advisory system. One of the decisions the district had to make in returning to the classsroom centered around the lack of high-speed internet. Greenly said that played a role in returning to the classroom.
  • Kristi Pennington, a school-based therapist in southeast Ohio, discussed mental health and preparing students for the school year. Pennington said its important to discuss protocol changes and mask wearing with their children to help ease any anxiety children may have. Pennington said kids will have to adjust to being asked screening questions.
  • Pennington also said its important to dedicate a space for students at the home for those students learning virtually, so they have a consistent place to go to for class.
  • Adult daycare and senior centers will be permitted to reopen on Sept. 21. Specific guidelines will be released in an order, which will be issued soon. Some reopening requirements will include: limited capacity, limited entry sites, daily screenings, baseline and repeat testing, face coverings, cohorting and thorough cleaning.
  • The state has unveiled a statewide testing initiative for Ohio’s 765 assisted living facilities. This includes a baseline saliva test that will be offered to all assisted living staff and residents at no cost to the facilities. “The tests can be self-performed or performed with assistance, under the observance of licensed medical staff,” DeWine said. “The tests themselves are minimally invasive and provide reliable results in about 48 hours upon the lab’s receipt.”
  • The state will be issuing a new order that will require all assisted living facilities to participate in the new testing initiative. “Our focus has been and remains on protecting Ohioans while navigating this pandemic. To achieve this, we must have 100 percent participation of all assisted living facilities across Ohio,” DeWine said.
  • Ohioans will now be able to get their temporary license plates for new vehicles on Oplates.com. “Individuals who purchase vehicles through private sales, new residents who are in the process of obtaining an Ohio title, and/or customers that have purchased a vehicle from a dealership that does not sell temporary tags can take advantage of this new service,” Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said.
  • DeWine has requested the Ohio Department of Administrative to work with Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose to ensure all of Ohio’s counties have the PPE resources needed to execute early in-person voting and voting on election day. Absentee and early voting begins on Oct. 6. Absentee ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 2.
  • DeWine is asking the Ohio Board of Workers’ Compensation to send up to $1.5 billion in dividend payments to Ohio employers this fall. If approved, it would be the second dividend of $1 billion or more since April. The board was already anticipating providing a dividend payment next year. “With Board approval, they will issue one now to provide some immediate economic relief for employers amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Checks could start going out in late October,” DeWine said.
  • DeWine is also asking the state distribute a second round of face coverings to Ohio employers and their workforce. The state has already shipped 20.6 million masks to 197,000 employers and their workforce since May. “This second round will consist of approximately 23 million masks to employers and are meant to replace any masks that have exhausted their effective use,” DeWine said.
  • DeWine said guidance surrounding the performing arts will be released by the state on Friday.

Things you need to know today, Thursday:

Other things you should know today:

LATEST STATE DATA: As of Thursday afternoon, there have been at least 112,003 confirmed or probable cases in the state, 3,929 deaths, and 12,615 hospitalizations, according to the Ohio Department of Health. 91,656 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 1,905,419 people tested for the coronavirus in Ohio, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

A total of 12,576 health care workers have tested positive which is about 11 percent of the cases.

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


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