COLUMBUS – State officials continue to look toward a day when the coronavirus pandemic, and the burdens that have come with it, are things of the past.
For the first time since Gov. Mike DeWine began his daily Statehouse briefings on the outbreak, protesters marched outside the Statehouse, a group of about 100 people who objected to DeWine and health director Amy Acton’s orders closing non-essential businesses, throwing thousands of Ohioans out of work almost immediately.
The demonstrators claimed that the state had trampled on their constitutional rights and overreacted to the threat of the pandemic.
Inside the Statehouse, where the protesters’ voices could be heard, DeWine acknowledged their frustration but defended the measures taken to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus, which has claimed more than 16,000 lives in the U.S.
“I don’t like this any more than anybody else likes it. We’re not going to keep these orders on one day longer than we have to. What I’m asking Ohioans to do is hang in there,” DeWine said.
“People are worried, they’re afraid. They’re afraid about things like their jobs and I want you to know that we are working just as rigorously on the recovery from this,” Acton said.
The Ohio Department of Health call center is open 7 days a week from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. to answer questions regarding COVID-19 at 1-833-4-ASK-ODH (1-833-427-5634).
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Ohio Department of Health coronavirus website
Ohio COVID-19 Dashboard displays the most recent preliminary data
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Health officials say Ohio has more than 5,500 confirmed cases of the virus, and 213 people have died. There are 1,101 confirmed cases in central Ohio and 21 people have died in Franklin, Delaware, Licking and Madison counties.
DeWine said a task force is working on a plan for bringing Ohio’s battered economy back, reopening businesses and lifting stay-at-home orders, but says it is still a “work in progress” and he promised more details next week.
Acton said one sign that the peak of the pandemic may have passed safely will be 14 days of declines in the number of hospitalizations but DeWine cautioned the return to normal will not be accomplished by “flipping a switch.”
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The governing body of high school sports in Ohio is optimistic, planning for spring sports, in doubt due to the closure of Ohio’s schools until at least May 1.
The Ohio High School Athletic Association has released a tentative schedule for sectional, district, regional and state tournaments in baseball, softball, lacrosse, boys tennis, and track and field with championship games set from June 13 to as late as July 4.
The dates are based on the Gov. Mike DeWine’s expressed hope to reopen schools May 4 but the OHSAA says, if schools are closed for the remainder of the school year, spring sports will be cancelled.