COLUMBUS – The latest effort in Republican lawmakers’ yearlong attempt to rein in Gov. Mike DeWine’s authority to issue public health orders during the pandemic passed in the House but faces a certain veto.
Given the limits it puts on state and local officials to respond to future crises, he said Thursday that it “would be irresponsible not to” veto the measure.
The bill that would allow lawmakers to rescind public health orders issued by the governor or the Ohio Department of Health was fast-tracked out of committee one year to the day the COVID-19 pandemic began in Ohio and moved onto the House floor Wednesday where it passed a 57-37 party line vote.
GOP lawmakers made several changes to the Senate bill that would close loopholes for future governors and local boards of health to issue emergency orders.
Democrats claimed that the bill is unconstitutional and would threaten the health and safety of Ohioans by curbing the governor’s and health director’s authority during public health crises and other emergencies.
Rep. Jamie Callendar (R-Concord) argued lawmakers has granted that power to the governor a century ago and it was theirs to take back.
“We’re not taking away from the executive anything that they have constitutionally, but rather putting some limitations and some modern-day adaptations to our legislative authority that we have given to them in certain circumstances,” he said during floor debate.
House Democratic leaders, led by Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes (D-Akron) sent a letter to DeWine Wednesday urging him to veto the bill, which Democrats opposed in unison.
“We understand people are frustrated and fatigued with the ongoing pandemic,” they wrote. “However, the answer to getting our economy back on track, kids back in school, and our social lives vibrant relies on our ability to quickly respond to variants and outbreaks.”
UPDATE 3/11/21: The current incidence of COVID-19 cases in Ohio is 155 per 100,000 residents. DeWine has promised to lift all health restrictions if the incidence rate drops to lower than 50 per 100,000 residents.
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The first state-sponsored pop-up mass vaccination sites will open next week in Columbus and Cincinnati.
The Columbus site will be at St. John Arena, 410 Woody Hayes Drive, on the OSU campus March 18 – 21 from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
The clinic — operated by Kroger in cooperation with Franklin County Public Health and Columbus Public Health — will have the capacity to administer up to 12,500 first doses and 12,500 second doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
Free parking will be available in the parking lot to the north of St. John Arena off of Lane Avenue
The dates for those people who receive first doses in March to return for their guaranteed second doses will be April 8 – 11.
As of Wednesday, almost 1.2 million Ohioans, or 10.24% of the total population, had completed the vaccinations process.
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There were 1,868 new cases of COVID-19 in Ohio reported Wednesday, the second day in a row when the daily number exceeded the 21-day average. That brought the total number of cases since the pandemic began to 983,486.
There were 114 new hospital admissions, bringing the total number of Ohioans hospitalized during the outbreak to 51,211. There were 933 patients in hospitals statewide, five more than the day before, occupying 3.35% of the inpatient capacity.
There were 34,413 active cases of COVID-19 in Ohio Wednesday.
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The state will no longer issue a travel advisory for those entering Ohio after traveling to states reporting positive testing rates of 15% or higher.
Instead, the Ohio Department of Health is revising its travel guidance to encourage Ohioans to carefully review the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines, which say postponing travel and staying home is the best way to stay protected from COVID-19.
Those who do travel should still wear masks, practicing physical distancing, and washing their hands.
Travelers may feel well and not have any symptoms but can still spread the coronavirus to others after travel.
Anyone with known exposure to COVID-19 should delay travel, even if they are not feeling sick, self-quarantine, get tested, and monitor their health.
The agency says you should not travel if you are sick or test positive for COVID-19, and don’t travel with someone who is sick.
The seven-day average positivity rate in Ohio is 3%.