COLUMBUS – Ohioans woke up Wednesday morning to a world the way it used to be.
Mostly.
Health orders and precautions that had been effect for nearly a year in some cases were lifted at one minute past midnight, meaning that masks were no longer required indoors, in stores or other businesses or in K-12 and preschools.
Restaurants and bars were no longer required to maintain spacing between tables in their dining areas and orders limiting on gatherings to fewer than 10 people were gone.
Gov. Mike DeWine announced that Department of Health director Stephanie McCloud signed the order lifted the restrictions, though DeWine still encourage unvaccinated Ohioans to take precautions.
“It’s important that those not fully vaccinated continue to wear masks indoors and follow other preventative measures to keep themselves as healthy as possible,” he said.
Some orders remained in effect, such as those impacting residents and staff at nursing homes and assisted living facilities and screening was still for required for admission to state operated psychiatric hospitals and Department of Youth Services Facilities.
There were also still some requirements for reporting positive cases of COVID-19 to state databases.
Local orders remain in effect until they are lifted by authorities.
More than 5.3 million Ohioans have received their first vaccinations and 4.6 million have completed the vaccination series.
A person is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after their second dose of Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines or two weeks after the single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
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The second of five scheduled Vax-a-Million incentive drawings was scheduled for Wednesday night.
The state reported that 3,225,789 adults were entered in the drawing for $1 million and 132,903 Ohioans age 12 to 17 entered the drawing for a college scholarship. That marks an increase of 467,320 adult entries and 28,518 scholarship entries from the previous week, Department of Health officials said.
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There were 622 new cases of COVID-19 reported Tuesday. That included cases from Monday, when data was not released due to the Memorial Day holiday. A total of 1,102,556 Ohioans have been sickened by the coronavirus during the pandemic. There are 16,947 currently active cases, including 702 patients who were being treated in hospitals.
A total of 19,861 Ohioans have died from COVID-19 and 59,247 have been hospitalized
The positivity rate had dropped to 2.7%.