COLUMBUS – Governor Mike DeWine is extending the statewide overnight curfew which was set to expire Saturday until Jan 30.
DeWine said the rate of spread of COVID-19 in the state is still too high to relax the restrictions, which encourage Ohioans to remain home between 10:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. except for essential trips.
“Unfortunately, its going to have to stay,” DeWine said during his regular Thursday coronavirus briefing. “We’ve seen where the numbers are. We had a downtick for a few days but we’re still at very, very high levels.”
Ohio’s seven-day rolling average of daily new cases dropped to 6,113 new cases per day on Jan. 20, but there were 7,271 new cases on Thursday.
The Department of Health reports that one in 200 Ohioans has tested positive for COVID during the past 2 weeks and all 88 counties have a level of spread that is at least three times more than what the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers “high incidence.”
He said the next step could be to move the start time from 10:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. but the administration was not ready to make that move yet.
The curfew does not apply to those going to and from work, have an emergency or who need medical care or are going to get groceries or medicine.
Picking up carry-out or a drive-thru meal and ordering for delivery is permitted, but serving food and drink inside a bar or restaurant must stop at 10:00 p.m.
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The state is spending $50 million in federal pandemic aid dollars to buy 2 million at-home coronavirus tests that produce results in 15 minutes.
DeWine announced a partnership between the state, digital health company eMed and medical device company Abbott Laboratories to acquire the BinaxNow rapid antigen tests and distribute them to local health departments, which will determine where to use them.
“Local health departments, by using these, testing will be more accessible than ever, whenever and wherever it is actually needed,” DeWine said.
The governor says local officials have been asking for more rapid tests, which would allow them to respond to “hotspots,” like outbreaks in businesses, or to administer to priority personnel, such as first responders, or in schools.
“If we could get more of these rapid tests so that we could decide how to deploy them in the community we think that this would be very, very helpful in slowing the spread of the virus,” he said.
Via telehealth services provided by eMed, an individual who uses one of the tests can be guided by a medical professional and will get the results without having to visit a testing location, DeWine said.
The results will be recorded by the Ohio Department of Health.
Franklin County passed a sobering milestone Thursday, recording over 100,000 cases. There have been 100,046 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic.
The state has reported a total of 849,704 cases with 10,518 deaths and 44,315 hospitalizations.
The 306 patients admitted to hospitals on Wednesday means that there were 3,406 Ohioans being treated in hospitals for COVID, 12.26% of the state’s total capacity.
The state has administered the first vaccine doses to 500,176 people, or 4.8% of the population.
Franklin County Public Health says its 1,200 doses of vaccine will be used for two clinics scheduled on Monday and Tuesday, Jan. 25 and 26. 2021.
To schedule an appointment, call (614) 525-5225 from 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 21, or by visiting the department’s website.
The clinic is located at 1700 Morse Road.
Walk-ins will be turned away.
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DeWine says he was “infuriated” by news that a pharmacy was suspended from Ohio’s coronavirus vaccination program after 890 doses were wasted.
SpecialtyRx, which is headquartered in New Jersey but has an office in Columbus, was provided 1,500 doses late last year for vaccinations at eight nursing homes, according to the Ohio Department of Health, which is overseeing the vaccination program.
The agency said Wednesday that the pharmacy had 890 doses left over but failed to properly monitor freezer temperatures and an investigation determined that the 890 doses were not viable.
The agency says the doses can’t be used with that documentation lacking and has asked the State Board of Pharmacy open an investigation.
ODH has immediately halted any future allocations to Specialty RX, and the provider has been instructed to not administer or transfer any of the affected doses and to keep them quarantined in both units until next steps are given. -Ohio Dept. of Health statement
A company official said she wasn’t aware of the issue but promised a response.
According to a release from the health department, the first of two doses of the Moderna vaccine that were administered to the residents and staff of the long-term care facilities were viable but the nursing homes will have to coordinate with another provider for the second doses, likely be their local health departments.
Ohio is no longer on its own list of dangerous states.
With a seven-day rolling average of positive tests for the coronavirus, Ohio has dropped off its own list of states where travelers should self-quarantine for 14 days upon their return.
The state indicated its most recent positivity rate was 9.2% on Jan. 19.