Coronavirus Pandemic: DeWine, White House concerned about Labor Day weekend

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine addressed the state’s continued response to the coronavirus pandemic during an afternoon briefing

The following announcements have been made:

• The state saw over 1,400 cases today, DeWine said the state believes students returning to college campuses and schools. He commended colleges and university’s for doing the testing.
• Montgomery County moved into the Top 10 counties for high occurrence of COVID-19 coming in at the 8th spot. Darke (2), Mercer (5), Shelby (7), Butler (8) and Auglaize (10) also were on the list.
• Gov. DeWine said he spoke with the White House today and they have expressed a “grave concern” for coronavirus during the upcoming Labor Day holiday. DeWine said following Independence Day the state saw close to 1,500 cases per day on average. “We can’t ignore that risk,” DeWine said. “Please stay safe this weekend.”
• DeWine mentioned he spoke today with Russia local school’s superintendent following its decision to move junior high and high school learning online for two weeks. “Russia folks did a very very good job. They did exactly what they should do,” DeWine said.
• DeWine discussed an upcoming order that will be issued in regard to coronavirus at schools. He said the order is not complete, but will be soon. He said the state health department will issue a report on coronavirus cases in schools once a week.
• The main goals of the upcoming education order, according to DeWine, is to: ensure parents are notified if their kids have been in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, parents are notified if someone in their child’s building is COVID-19 positive and the public is aware of cases in their local districts.

Things you need to know today, Tuesday:

• Pop-up COVID-19 testing sites are in operation in Dayton and Springfield today
• The University of Dayton reported a “minimal” number of students withdrew at the deadline for a full tuition refund.
• Russia local schools suspends athletics, in-person learning for two weeks for some
• Springfield announces new pop-up testing site for Tuesday
• Oakwood HS student tests positive; tennis teammate to self-quarantine
• The city of Dayton is seeking proposals from small businesses who need assistance meeting health and safety requirements during the pandemic. Businesses could be granted up to $10,000 for assistance with the costs of installing new or altering existing spaces to meet public health guidelines for social distancing. The total funding pool is $200,000.
• UPDATE: 116 new positive COVID-19 cases announced at University of Dayton

LATEST STATE DATA: As of Tuesday afternoon, there have been at least 124,610 confirmed or probable cases in the state, 4,165 deaths, and 13,479 hospitalizations, according to the Ohio Department of Health. 104,024 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 2,263,107 people tested for the coronavirus in Ohio, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

A total of 13,755 health care workers have tested positive which is about 11 percent of the cases.

Cox Media Group