Coronavirus Pandemic: DeWine addresses OSU football, vaccine in briefing

Gov. Mike DeWine held an afternoon briefing to provide an update on the state’s response to coronavirus.

The following announcements were made:

• The top 10 counties with the highest occurrence of COVID-19 were released: Butler (2), Mercer (4), Montgomery (5), Shelby (6), Auglaize (7) and Darke (8) were included from the Miami Valley.
• Gov. DeWine addressed rumors he said he saw circulating on the internet regarding the non-congregate sheltering order. “The bottom line, neither FEMA nor ODH are going to set up ‘FEMA camps’ for anyone to quarantine against their will. What we are doing is making available a safe place for people to stay when they have loved ones they are trying to protect and they have no other place to go,” DeWine said.
• DeWine said when a vaccine becomes available he plans to get it.
• DeWine said he spoke with Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith told, who told him there is still a possibility for Ohio State football this season. DeWine did not disclose any additional information on what he and Smith discussed. DeWine did not say whether he agreed with the Big Ten’s decision to postpone the season to the Spring. “We’ll see. I don’t know what’s going to happen,” DeWine said. “It’s still very much in play.”

Things you need to know today, Tuesday:

• The U.S. Air Force is alerting its employees, both military and civilian, that they will not be able to opt-out of the deferral for the payroll tax that was established through President Donald Trump’s executive order that went into effect last week.
• Half of UD active cases from last week are now recovered
• Riverside man laid off because of COVID-19 builds desks for students
• Dayton business owner shares about first experience at ‘Out on Fifth’
• The City of Dayton is encouraging people to shop at local small businesses, as part of an initiative started after another difficult time in the city. Since the middle of August, the city has been featuring small businesses on its Facebook page for its initiative, Shop Local Dayton.
• Coronavirus: Dayton Contemporary Dance Company awarded resilience grant

LATEST STATE DATA: As of Tuesday afternoon, there have been at least 131,992 confirmed or probable cases in the state, 4,298 deaths, and 13,967 hospitalizations, according to the Ohio Department of Health. 110,279 people are presumed to have recovered from the virus in the state.

Of the state’s cases, 21,713 are presumed to still be active.

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 2,442,697 people tested for the coronavirus in Ohio, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

A total of 14,349 health care workers have tested positive which is about 11 percent of the cases.

Cox Media Group