COLUMBUS, Ohio —
Thursday
Gov. Mike DeWine made several announcements regarding the reopening of businesses such as child care, gyms, campgrounds, non-contact/low-contact sports leagues and public pools regulated by health departments.
Child care
Day cares, along with day camps, will reopen in Ohio beginning May 31.
DeWine along with Joni Close, the chair of Ohio's early childhood advisory counsel said as day cares reopen, parents and employees of day cares should note that several changes will now take place.
In addition to childcare providers wearing masks, there will be routine temperature taking for children before they enter the building. Anyone with a temperature of at least 100 degrees will be sent home.
Parents may also be asked to wear a mask when dropping their child off.
Children will also have to wash their hands before entering their day care centers and when they leave.
There will be a reduced number of children in the classroom. For preschool and school-age children, classrooms with have a maximum number of nine children. For infants and toddlers, classrooms will have a maximum of six in classroom.
Field trips will no longer take place this year. Playground and outdoor activity is still allowed however intensified and rigorous cleaning practices will have to take place.
DeWine also announced that $60 million from the Families First Care ACT will be allocated to day cares across the state to assist both publicly-funded and private providers. More information regarding this announcement is expected to be on the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services website soon.
Day camps
Protocols for summer day camps in Ohio will be released Friday.
BMVs
Ohio BMVs are scheduled to reopen on May 26.Lt. Gov. Jon Husted urged Ohioans to use online services for Ohio's BMVs as much as possible instead of going to the physical locations.
Majority of services provided by the BMV are available online, such as vehicle registration, scheduling a driving test, updating addresses, applying for state I.D.'s etc.
Extensions for renewing licenses and vehicle registration are still in effect under House Bill 197.
Campgrounds
Although many campgrounds are already open with restrictions, they will be allowed to completely reopen on May 21. All of the requirements needed to open can be found here.
Gyms and fitness centers/recreation
Gyms and fitness centers (included are dance studios) will be able to reopen on May 26.
Sports that are non-contact or have limited contacted was addressed as well. Sport leagues for golf, baseball, softball, tennis etc. can be reestablished on May 26.
Work groups are still working on safety protocols for higher contact supports such as soccer, hockey, basketball, volleyball, gymnastics etc.
Guidance on protocols that must be met for reopening will be available on here later on Thursday.
Public pools
Public pools and clubs that are regulated by local health departments are able to reopen on May 26. This does not include water parks or amusements parks because they are regulated differently therefore will have different protocols are being addressed.
Husted added that according to the CDC there is no evidence that virus that causes COVID-19 can be spread to people through water, pools, hot tubs, spas or water play areas. Disinfection with chlorine and bromine should inactivate the virus.
Other business to reopen
Horse racing will resume on May 22. The guidance for those activities was approved by the racing commission.
Spectators will be prohibited.
This does not mean casinos nor racinos can reopen.
New Numbers
The Ohio Department of Health reported 26,357 total cases of COVID-19 with 24,800 confirmed.
The ODH reported 4,718 hospitalizations, with 1,268 of those cases being intensive care cases.
A total of 1,534 deaths were reported, with 1,388 confirmed. The total numbers are both confirmed and presumed cases of the coronavirus.
The median age of those affected by COVID-19 is 50. The age range in the state is from infancy to 108 years old.
No reopening date yet
- Schools
- Casinos/racinos
- Libraries
- Movie theaters
- Amusement parks/water parks
- Fairs/festivals
- Concerts/other large gatherings
Wednesday
Gov. DeWine did not hold a press conference on Wednesday. Briefings are to resume Thursday.
New Numbers
The Ohio Department of Health reported 25,721 total cases of COVID-19 with 24,245 confirmed.
The ODH reported 4,618 hospitalizations, with 1,248 of those cases being intensive care cases.
A total of 1,483 deaths were reported. The total numbers are both confirmed and presumed cases of the coronavirus.
The median age of those affected by COVID-19 is 50. The age range in the state is from infancy to 108 years old.
Tuesday
The majority of Tuesday's briefing was focused heavily on older Ohioans and congregate living facilities such as nursing homes and assisted living.
Ohio Department Director of Medicaid Maureen Corcoran went into detail and outlined how the state, hospitals, the Ohio Department of Aging and congregate living centers are all working together in regards to COVID-19.
Corcoran mentioned that 3 million people are now on Medicaid and that there was a 140,000 increase from the end of March to the end of April.
Director Ursel McElroy of the Ohio Department of Aging also joined the conference. She highlighted how the impacts of COVID-19 have forced a lot of people to connect virtually.
More re-openings
Along with personal care services and outdoor services from bar and restaurants, tattoo/body art shops and massage therapy services will also resume Friday.
Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said by Friday, 90% of Ohio's economy will have been reopened.
Ohio Pandemic EBT Plan
Gov. Mike DeWine announced Tuesday that the state's pandemic EBT plan was approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture which was included in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020.
The approval allows the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services to distribute SNAP benefits to 850,000 students across Ohio who relied on free/reduced-price meals programs during the school year.
The benefits will be mailed directly to students. Families don’t need to apply to be eligible. Families will receive around $300 to purchase food to feed their children.
RELATED: Ohio kids on free/reduced meals to receive money to buy food through COVID-19 emergency plan
New Numbers
The Ohio Department of Health reported 25,250 total cases of COVID-19 with 23,809 confirmed.
The ODH reported 4,539 hospitalizations, with 1,232 of those cases being intensive care cases.
A total of 1,436 deaths were reported. The total numbers are both confirmed and presumed cases of the coronavirus.
The median age of those affected by COVID-19 is 50. The age range in the state is from infancy to 108 years old.
Dr. Amy Acton said that overall Ohio's data shows that the state is still in plateau phase in COVID-19 cases.
Monday
Under his Responsible Restart Ohio plan, Gov. Mike DeWine has released information each day discussing what businesses will reopen and when.
Ohioans were expecting to hear more information on child care facilities, however Gov. DeWine said they are still working on issuing a date.
A date will not be announced until all protocols are in place.
When asked if unemployment benefits would still be available to parents due to lack of child care, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said that no one is currently being denied for that reason.
Director of the Department of Jobs and Family Services, Kim Hall also spoke on the matter.
"Return to work guidelines that are in place, are currently being evaluated for opportunities to examine more deeply the health and safety aspects," she said. "No benefits are being denied right now as a result of a person's decision not to return to work while we continue to evaluate the policy.
Antibody testing
The Ohio Department of Health has found five different cases with onset symptoms dated to January.
Disease detectives are now investigating to determine if the cases were associated with travel.
Dr. Amy Acton said these cases were discovered due to the antibody testing.
New numbers
The total number of cases of COVID-19 reported by the Ohio Department of Health on Wednesday is 24,777 with 23,400 of those cases confirmed.
The ODH reported 4,413 hospitalizations, with 1,151 of those cases being intensive care cases.
A total of 1,357 deaths were reported. The total numbers are both confirmed and presumed cases of the coronavirus.
The median age of those affected by COVID-19 is 50. The age range in the state is from infancy to 108 years old.
Rebate offer for restaurants and bars
A one-time rebate is being offered to bars and restaurants to help cover the cost of restocking high-proof liquor, by Jobs Ohio and the State Department of Commerce.
Businesses interested in the offer can find more information here.
Businesses still closed
Along with child care, decisions regarding, campgrounds, libraries, tattoo/body art shots or gyms/fitness centers were not announced.
Like the child care industry, announcements regarding gyms and fitness centers are expected to be announced shortly.
State of the state
Though Gov. DeWine has not been able to deliver his State of the state address this year, he described the impacts of COVID-19 to Ohio as a "severe storm."
"Ohioans have done exceedingly well under the certain circumstances," he said.
WATCH FULL BRIEFING
Last week recap
DeWine has formed groups from the different industries to advise on best practices on how to safely reopen.
Businesses expecting to reopen
Retail businesses have already been slated to reopen on May 12.
Last Thursday DeWine outlined plans for other different businesses to reopen.
Personal care services such as salons and barbershops, along with outdoor services for bars and restaurants will be allowed to reopen on May 15.
Indoor dining will be allowed to resume on May 21.
Massage businesses will be addressed by the medical board that regulates that industry, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said.
RELATED: Reopening Ohio: Salons/barbers open May 15; restaurants/bars open May 15 outside and May 21 inside
Face coverings
Although face coverings are not mandated by law for customers, whether they are required or not will be decided by business owners.
Customers receiving service from personal care business will be asked to wear a face mask.
Customers at bars and restaurants should not be alarmed if they notice cashiers and servers not wearing gloves, as hand-washing is the number one protective practice against the coronavirus.
Businesses remaining closed
Along with child-care facilities, campgrounds, libraries or gyms/fitness centers were not given a timeline.
Guidance on child care is expected Monday and a decision on opening and campgrounds is expected to come "shortly."
"There's no reason people won't be able to camp. Just be careful about groupings and common areas," DeWine said.
What's already open
Dentist and veterinarian offices were the first businesses to reopen in the state on May 1.
Office buildings followed shortly after on May 4.
DeWine said he favored a slow rollout of the state's economic plan in order to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
