5 things to know today about coronavirus: Survivors tell their stories, how to prepare for a different school year

Today is Monday, August 17 and here are five things to know about the coronavirus pandemic today.

Ohio passes 108,000 cases, new cases are the lowest they’ve been in 21 days

There have been 108,287 cases and 3,826 deaths reported from coronavirus in Ohio as of Sunday, August 16, the Ohio Department of Health reported today. A total of 613 new cases have been reported, the lowest number of new cases in the past 24 hours in the past 21 days.

102,577 cases and 3,548 deaths have been confirmed by the state. Since the beginning of the pandemic, a total of 12,236 people have been hospitalized. 2,771 people have been admitted to an intensive care unit since the pandemic began. The state estimates that 86,926 people have recovered.

School will be different this year. Here’s how to prepare your child for the school year

Whether you’re homeschooling, sending your child back into a classroom or scheduled for virtual learning, there’s one thing you can count on. This school year will be filled with uncertainty.

“Every school district is doing something different and so much keeps changing,” says Alan Demmitt, chair of the University of Dayton’s department of counselor education and human services. “There are new announcements every day.”

Back to school time is bringing strong feelings of both worry and optimism

“The butterflies in my stomach are a little bit extra today,” said Emerson Academy Principal Landon Brown on the first day of the charter school’s online classes. “You want everything to go perfect as a principal. You want to control it, and this situation, you just absolutely cannot control.”

The past two months in education have been about logistics — schools rushing to plan and re-plan every detail, teachers training on brand-new procedures, parents and students tracking how their options are changing, sometimes from day to day.

But the first day of school traditionally is more than a matter of logistics. It’s a time of emotions: excitement for some, anxiety for others, nostalgia for parents. And as classes are finally about to start in this unique coronavirus-affected back-to-school season, those emotions are all over the place.

Area survivors share their stories about recovering from coronavirus

More than 7,600 people in the Miami Valley have tested positive for COVID-19 since the start of the epidemic, and some survivors of the disease have begun gathering at a unique place — the Dayton Community Blood Center in downtown.

The Dayton CBC is trying to collect as much donated plasma as it can from recovered patients, and the downtown center has become a hub where COVID-19 survivors can be found.

An Ohio State quarterback started a petition to reinstate the Big Ten football season

The petition was addressed to Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren, Big Ten university presidents and Big Ten athletic directors. As of 1 p.m. Sunday, the petition had received almost 48,000 signatures. The goal was to reach 50,000.

“This cause is close to my heart,”Ohio State Buckeyes Quarterback Justin Fields wrote on Twitter. “Please sign.”

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