The majority of customers in southern Montgomery County were wearing masks or face coverings, based on visits to stores News Center 7's Sean Cudahy made Thursday.
Lisa Patterson of Springboro noticed the difference a day made on the first full day of Gov. Mike DeWine’s mandatory mask order for Montgomery and six other counties.
At Blue Turtle Toys in Oakwood, owner Cathy Tapogna said she had been allowing customers to decide whether they wanted to mask-up. Now, because of the governor’s order, Tapogna said she feels more comfortable for health and the health of her small business.
“I don’t want to go through another shutdown - so i think it is very important that people continue to wear their masks,” she said.
Gov. DeWine said he expects to hold his next news briefing Tuesday on the state’s response to the pandemic.
The following announcements were made during Thursday’s news briefing:
- DeWine unveiled guidance for the state’s universities and colleges
- He announced an additional $15 million grant to COHHIO to ensure Ohioans can maintain their housing. This is an effort to support homelessness prevention efforts in the state.
- Hospital admissions in Ohio because of coronavirus continue to climb. On June 26, there were 619. As of Thursday, there were 905.
- The positive rate in Ohio has been hovering between 4 and 6 recently, but the state has seen a 6.4 percent positive rate in the most recent data release.
- Lt. Gov. Jon Husted announced the launch of the Individual Micro-credential Assistance Program, which helps unemployed Ohioans earn in-demand, tech-focused credentias. Learn more at IMAP.Development.Ohio.gov
- An executive order DeWine signed July 2 enable the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services to draw down federal funding authorized under the CARES Act to enhance the state’s SharedWork program. Participating employers agree to reduce the affected employees’ hours by a uniform percentage, between 10% and 50%, for up to 52 weeks. In return, those employees receive SharedWork compensation (a prorated unemployment benefit).
- People fully recovered from COVID-19 at least two weeks are encouraged to consider donating plasma at places such as the Blood Center in Dayton. The plasma is rich in antibodies that could possibly attack the virus that causes COVID-19. It shows promise to lessen the severity or shorten the length of illness.
New Public Health Advisory System Levels by county:
DeWine unveiled the latest health alert levels. Butler is now on the watch list for Level 4 purple, but remained at Level 3 red. Mercer and Clinton rose to Level 2 Orange, Greene lowered to the Level 1 Yellow. All other counties remained the same.
- Alert Level 1 (Yellow): A county has triggered zero or one of the indicators, and there is an active exposure and spread. Miami, Greene, Auglaize, Logan, Champaign, Darke, and Shelby are at this level.
- Alert Level 2 (Orange): A county has triggered two or three indicators and there is an increased risk of exposure and spread. Counties at this level are seeing cases that are growing in the last two weeks. Preble, Mercer, Clinton, Warren and Clark are at this level.
- Alert Level 3 (Red): A county has triggered four or five indicators and there is a very high exposure and spread. Risk is very high. Butler and Montgomery are at this level.
- Alert Level 4 (Purple): A county has triggered six or seven indicators and there is severe exposure and spread. Officials say to stay home as much as possible when in this level. There are no counties on this level. Hamilton and Butler are on the watch list.
- With Butler County on the Level 4 watch list, the following information was released:
- Between June 24 to 30, Butler had 181 cases reported, the largest number of COVID-19 weekly cases reported since the beginning of the pandemic. From June 16 - July 3, the average new cases per day doubled from 15 to 29.
- From June 16 and July 4, emergency room visits for COVID-19 symptoms tripled from an average of 2 per day to 7. Between June 16 and July 7, the average outpatient visits more than doubled from 15 to 38 per day.
- Butler also hit a new threshold for the overall utilization rate for regional Intensive Care Unit beds, which exceeded 80% during 5 of the last 7 days.
Things you should know today, Friday:
- Lawmakers are looking into how contact tracing through smart phones can help stop the spread of the virus.
- Now through July 15, the Ohio Department of Health will allow contact and non-contact competition to resume for all sports if teams agree to all of the guidelines in the order. Guidelines include tests for all players, coaches, athletic trainers, support staff and officials before travel and competition; daily symptom assessments; face coverings for trainers while attending to a player; Coaches and officials should wear a face covering when possible; strict social distancing by players not engaged in practice or competition; and immediate isolation and medical care for a participant.
More things you should know today, Friday:
- Beginning July 20, nursing homes will be permitted to have outdoor visitations, as long as all safety standards are met. Nursing homes should consider the status of cases in their communities and in the nursing home, staffing levels, access to testing for residents and staff, PPE supplies and hospital capacity when deciding to reopen for outdoor visits.
- Testing Clinics: July 15, the second of three community testing clinics will be offered, courtesy of the The Clark County Combined Health District and the city of Springfield, The clinics operate noon until 6 p.m. and the tests are free. No insurance, doctor’s order or appointment needed. The locations and times are as follows: July 15: Perrin Woods Elementary School, 431 W. John St.; July 22: La Condesa Grocery #1, 440 S. Burnett Road (Burnett Plaza Shopping Center).
LATEST STATE DATA: As of Friday afternoon, there have been at least 62,856 confirmed or probable cases in the state, 3,032 deaths, and 8,701 hospitalizations, according to the Ohio Department of Health. Of Ohio’s cases, 43,435 cases are presumed recovered, which accounts for approximately 70 percent of the cases.
Ohio has an estimated population of approximately 11.7 million, census records show.
Of the state’s positive cases, 8.8% are from Ohio’s prisons.
[ Local cases, deaths reported to Ohio Department of Health ]
The state reported that a total of 931,834 people have been tested in Ohio.
In the state, 7,909 cases are health care workers, which is 13 percent of the cases.
[ Local cases, deaths reported to Ohio Department of Health ]
Cox Media Group
