COVID-19 snowballed in November, here are the facts
The coronavirus pandemic exploded in November by nearly every metric on a national, state and local level and experts say it could be the beginning of the largest wave of infections yet.
The U.S. reported over 4 million COVID-19 cases in November, double the record set in October.
Area public health officials said the virus was always expected to flare up in the winter months. Schools reopened in fall, many states rolled back restrictions, and infections began to spread as people resumed small gatherings.
The effects of Thanksgiving remain to be seen. People who were exposed last week are being diagnosed this week and if they need hospitalization will start showing up there in one to two weeks.
Record new businesses in Ohio, despite pandemic: ‘Entrepreneurship is still alive’
Ohio entrepreneurs have not let the coronavirus pandemic and economic crisis stop them as they’ve registered a record number of new businesses this year.
Those filings already surpassed last year’s record, according to Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose.
This year LaRose’s office received 145,157 filings for new businesses and nonprofits through October, up from 130,621 filings for all of 2019.
It might seem counterintuitive that people would start new businesses in the midst of a pandemic that included a months-long shutdown and social distancing recommendations. But those interviewed said it makes sense that people would use this time to start something new, especially if they’ve been laid off or quit to care for children.
Should voters know more about where undisclosed political money comes from?
A $60 million bribery scandal at the Statehouse has put a spotlight on how nonprofit groups that don’t have to disclose where they get their money could corrupt politics.
In July U.S. Attorney David DeVillers alleged that Republican Larry Householder and four associates took more than $60 million filtered through these groups to put Householder in power and then pass and defend House Bill 6, a controversial energy bailout law.
These nonprofit groups have been part of Ohio’s political landscape for years and are becoming more common in state and local contests, experts say.
Defenders of the groups say the organizations represent a small percent of overall political spending and they promote free speech.
“This picture is COVID-19:” Nurse from Middletown shares her family’s experience with coronavirus
A nurse from Middletown shared a photo of her father who died of COVID-19 last month. She hopes to spread awareness for what the front lines of the pandemic look like.
Lindsey Fairchild is an intensive care unit nurse. She currently lives in Daytona Beach in Florida, but her family still lives in Middletown. Her father, Wayne Oney, 69, got COVID-19 in October and was admitted to the ICU at Atrium Medical Center. Oney spent 26 days in the ICU on a ventilator on dialysis. Fairchild said she flew home to be with him and her family as they took him off life support as he was in multiple organ failure.
The picture shows Oney as he dies with two nurses beside him. Oney’s wife, Lisa Oney, is reflected in the glass of the window.
650,000 Ohioans vaccinated by New Year? ‘We’re in a big hurry about it,’ DeWine says.
By the end of December, Ohio expects to have received and administered roughly 659,000 doses of the two new coronavirus vaccinations, according to a tentative schedule detailed by Gov. Mike DeWine on Friday.
The first people to be immunized will likely be health care workers, emergency medical technicians, and residents and staff in nursing homes, assisted living centers and other congregate living settings.
By mid-January, those who received the first shot will be scheduled to receive their second dose of the vaccine. It is unclear when Ohioans who don’t fall into the first priority groups will be allowed to get the vaccine.