Ohio changes quarantine rules for students at schools; curfew extended to late January

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced changes to schools quarantining guidance and an extension of the statewide curfew during Wednesday’s coronavirus press conference.

The following announcements were made during today’s press conference:

• Gov. Mike DeWine is encouraging anyone that is able to get the vaccine to get it with a “sense of urgency.”
• The state is asking for those hospitals, health departments and pharmacies giving the vaccines to report the number of vaccines given within 24 hours of giving the dose.
• DeWine said at nursing homes that the pharmacies giving the vaccines are going to the nursing home on three dates. If nursing home residents or staff do not start the vaccine on one of those first two dates, then the state cannot guarantee when they could get the vaccine again. “There’s no guarantee when that will occur,” DeWine said.
• DeWine said next week the state will receive 69,500 Moderna doses, 70,200 first doses of Pfizer that will be the first dose for people receiving it and 98,475 doses of the Pfizer vaccine that will serve as the second dose for some who have received their first dose already.
• DeWine said the state doesn’t necessarily have to complete phase 1A to move to phase 1B of vaccinations, but the state does have to be “well on its way” to completing phase 1A before moving to the next phase.
• DeWine said he doesn’t have specific data to report, but anecdotally he said it appears about 40 percent of nursing home workers are getting the vaccine and 60 percent are declining to receive the vaccine.
• Preliminary results from the Ohio Schools COVID-19 Evaluation Team study that looked at the rate of COVID transmission in schools showed if students in class are masked and distanced, they did not have an increased risk of catching the virus from a nearby positive student. This study looked at students in classroom setting and did not include extra curricular activities.
• DeWine said the state is changing its guidance to schools for quarantining. Students and staff who have been exposed to a positive COVID-19 student in a classroom setting no longer have to quarantine, as long as masks and distancing were maintained. This does not include extra curricular activities.
• The statewide 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew has been extended until Jan. 23. “This is because we don’t yet know what effect the holidays may have on our hospitals and health care systems, so we must continue to be cautious,” DeWine said. The curfew does not apply to those going to-and-from work or who have an emergency or need medical care. Picking up carry-out or a drive-thru meal and ordering for delivery is permitted, but serving food and drink within an establishment must cease at 10:00 p.m.
• More than 5,100 eligible on-premises liquor permit holders have not applied for state assistance through Ohio’s Bar & Restaurant Grant Program. Of the $38.7 million we originally set aside to support liquor permit holders, more than $12 million hasn’t been claimed. Each active on-premises liquor permit is eligible for $2,500 per location, according to the state. The funding isn’t competitive, and the money does not have to be repaid. More than just bars and restaurants have eligible liquor permits. Movie theaters, bowling alleys, sports and concert venues, and even some hair salons are eligible for this funding if they have a liquor permit, the state said.

Other items to know today in the coronavirus pandemic:

• CDC says stay home or get tested twice if traveling for New Year’s
• Educational leaders working to find the safest way to re-open schools in 2021
• CompuNet surpasses 250,000 COVID-19 tests since pandemic began

Cox Media Group