He noted the chance that more health orders will be lifted once Ohio gets further into fair season, if the state is able to control the virus.
More guidance about parades, festivals, graduations and proms will come in the next week, the governor said. He said the good news is that the state will be able to have the events this year.
Student athletes will no longer be required to quarantine if they are exposed to COVID in the classroom as long as they don’t have symptoms, DeWine said. More information about guidelines for spring sports is also expected to be released today.
Ohio is continuing to make progress toward lifting all the state’s public health orders, reporting 155 cases per 100,000 residents.
DeWine announced last week that, if the state can get below 50 cases per 100,000 people for two weeks, all public health orders will be lifted.
“This is still a very elevated level, but the data is certainly trending in the right direction,” the governor said.
The number of cases per 100,000 residents has continued to decrease this year following the state’s peak in mid-December at 845.5 cases per 100,000 people.
As of Thursday, Meigs and Vinton counties were the only two in the state below 50 cases per 100,000. However, both Harrison and Preble counties were just above the marker, with 53.2 and 56.3 cases per 100,000 over the last two weeks.
Ohio will allow visits in a long-term care facility resident’s room again, DeWine announced.
It is not clear when the visitations will resume, but the governor noted its something Ohioans have been asking to continue.
DeWine and Ohio Department of Aging Director Ursel McElroy also discussed new federal guidelines for nursing home visitations
Facilities should allow responsible visitation at all times regardless of vaccination status of the resident or visitor, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Some exceptions are included based off the county’s virus positivity or if a facility is experiencing an outbreak.
McElroy stressed that compassionate care visits are still allowed regardless of expectations.
If someone is having issues scheduling a visit, they can contact their ombudsman at OhioOmbudsman@age.ohio.gov or 1-800-282-1206.
Ohio reported 1,448 daily cases of coronavirus Thursday, as the state continues to remain the 2,000 case mark.
The state has recoded 984,934 total cases during the pandemic and averaged 1,788 cases a day over the last 21 days, according to the Ohio Department of Health.
Ten ICU admissions and 112 hospitalizations were reported on Thursday, bringing Ohio’s total to 7,255 and 51,323 respectively.
Starting today, Ohioans ages 50 and older, as well as people with type 2 diabetes and end-stage renal disease are eligible to be vaccinated. DeWine announced that he was expanding vaccine groups earlier this week after some providers still had vaccine appointments available.
As of Thursday, 2,157,525 people in Ohio have received at least one dose of the vaccine and 1,241,441 have finished the vaccine.
Registration is now open for a long-term mass vaccination site in Cleveland. The site is launching on Wednesday and already has 17,000 people signed up, DeWine said.
Anyone who is eligible for the vaccine can sign up for an appointment at gettheshot.coronavirus.ohio.gov.
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