Summit County now has seven confirmed cases of coronavirus as the statewide total soared to 119 Thursday.
Dr. Erika Sobolewski, medical director of Summit County Public Health, said the Summit County patients include four women and three men ranging in age from 35 to 72. Two of the patients are hospitalized.
The state number, up from 88 Wednesday, does not include any new confirmed patients whose data has not caught up with the state’s tally.
The number of cases in Summit County previously was four, Sobolewski said. Previous reports of fives cases were incorrect because a patient was inaccurately assigned to Summit County.
On-site testing still isn’t available in Summit County.
Gov. Mike DeWine, meanwhile, opened his daily coronavirus briefing Thursday with a message of appreciation to Ohioans for their “patriotic” acts of helping each other and keeping a proper distance from each other while efforts are underway to contain COVID-19.
DeWine also asked residents to hang American or Ohio flags.
He turned the podium over to Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor, who emphasized the importance of continuing courts’ most critical functions during the response to coronavirus. She urged local courts to continue using their own authority to address issues, calling on judges to use discretion in releasing people from jail to reduce the risk of getting sick.
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She also said it is up to local courts to decide on matters such as moratoriums on evictions and foreclosures. Courts need flexibility, she said, to remove a person through the eviction process in a domestic violence situation, for example.
Otherwise, mayors’ efforts to stay evictions, restore utilities and suspend punitive actions in such matters are “good practices,” she said.
She said the state also is working on a legislative proposal to provide more uniform response from the courts in similar emergencies.
DeWine also said Thursday that people thinking about traveling for spring break should reconsider those plans. For those who go ahead with travel, he said it is prudent to stay at home upon returning and avoid contact
with people outside the home.
After DeWine on Wednesday urged all people who continue to report to workplaces outside the home to take their temperatures before leaving each day, he said Thursday that he has been made aware that thermometers are in short supply.
He emphasized that employers should nonetheless ask employees if they took their temperature at home, ask how they’re feeling, clean, disinfect and try to observe physical distancing in the workplace and everywhere else.
DeWine also said rumors about martial law or quarantining everyone in the state in their homes aren’t true.
Summit collecting supplies
Chris Barker, emergency preparedness and compliance supervisor for Summit County Emergency Management Agency, said the agency is working to collect personal protective equipment, such as masks, to protect health care workers.
Call 330-926-5795 if you have possible donations. Barker said the first preference is health care equipment, but if people have construction or other type of masks or gear, still call for instructions.
“Masks are not recommended for the general public,” Sobolewski said, stressing they need to be conserved for the critically ill and medical workers.
Summit County Public Health is continuing to staff a hotline to answer the public’s questions at 330-926-5795.
Summit County Health Commissioner Donna Skoda said people who are concerned about businesses that are potentially not following state-ordered closures can report violations to 330-926-5600. The health department will follow up on complaints.
“Most businesses are complying,” Skoda said.
The agency can also be contacted on its website, scph.org.
Public health officials continued to remind people they should stay home if they have a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher and other symptoms of COVID-19, such as a cough.
“Call your doctor,” Sobolewski said. “Only the sick should go to the hospital. Please call ahead to your doctor or the ER if you feel you may have COVID-19. Don’t just show up.”
High school sports impact
Meanwhile, the Ohio High School Athletic Association is continuing an “indefinite postponement” for high school winter sports tournaments due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Executive Director Jerry Snodgrass said during a news conference Thursday that spring high school sports also continue to be put on hold, but the seasons haven’t been canceled.
OHSAA already had suspended all high school sports and implemented a no-contact period for teams while schools remain closed until April 6.
“Is canceling on the table? It absolutely has to be,” Snodgrass said.
Many things factor into determining whether winter tournaments are canceled, including whether the governor extends school closures, he said.
More state guidance
At the Statehouse briefing, Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton said of the 119 cases in Ohio as of Thursday, the age range is 2 to 91 years old, with a median age of 49 years.
The number includes 43 females and 76 males, with 33 total hospitalizations and no deaths at this point, although Acton said she was aware of a presumptive coronavirus death in Lucas County. She added the results of that investigation should be released soon.
Acton encouraged everyone to stay home if they can, adding young people need to take this seriously as they can get sick, too.
She also said testing is being save for the highest-risk people: hospital and healthcare workers, hospitalized patients and high-risk patients.
Lt. Governor Jon Husted said a request the state made to the U.S. Small Business Administration for small businesses and nonprofits to be able to apply for low-interest loans was approved. The low-interest, long-term loans of up to $2 million can be used to pay for fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills.
For more information, visit disasterloan.sba.gov/ela or call 1-800-659-2955.
To apply for unemployment in Ohio, visit unemployment.ohio.gov.
Husted also said in talking with grocery store executives, the supply chain remains intact, but the high demand is the reason people are seeing empty store shelves. The banking industry is also sound, Husted added.
Other speakers Thursday included Ursel McElroy, director of the Ohio Department of Aging, and Maureen Corcoran, the state’s Medicaid director, who discussed the efforts their agencies are coordinating to respond to residents’ needs statewide under the challenging circumstances created by the widespread shutdown.
Corcoran said DeWine is issuing an executive order that will expand access to medical and behavioral health services using telehealth, talking to their providers over the phone or online, which prevents the spread of COVID-19 by keeping people from making in-person visits but also expands health services in rural parts of the state.
McElroy said Ohio has the sixth-largest older adult population in the nation. She encouraged people to call older loved ones or neighbors, check on them, ask them how they’re feeling, offer to go to the store or run errands or pick up their medication.
