Neela Azizi, Gabi Lemerand
eSomethin Staff
Ohioans have been wondering when life will return to normal after Ohio’s stay-at-home order expires. Governor Mike DeWine discussed what life will be like this summer and how Ohioans will proceed to take proper health precautions while trying to ramp up the economy again.
Governor DeWine has said that soon business will be opening up. A few changes in our economy call for requirements that all services take the expected steps to keep everyone safe.
On May 1, we will have a health care opening, Governor DeWine said.
“All health procedures that can be done that do not require an overnight stay in a hospital will be able to move forward.” This a very influential change from the previous rules that allowed only overnight and essential operations and procedures to take place.
“Dentists and Veterinarians should also, beginning May 1, be able to be at full steam ahead,” according to the Governor.
Starting May 4, all manufacturing, distribution, construction will be opened up. Along with this, on May 12, consumer, retail and service sectors will open with the following rules: employees are required to wear face coverings, stay six feet apart or have barriers to keep people distanced, conduct daily health assessments, wash their hands regularly, regulate the maximum number of people that are allowed, limit arrivals of employees and guests, disinfect their area daily and must stay home if symptomatic.
Governor DeWine has suggested that citizens of Ohio should continue to take precautions and wear face coverings as extra protection to keep others safe with the benefit of personal protection. He said that people ages 65 and older are more vulnerable to COVID-19, along with people with pre-existing health conditions.
DeWine said, “Those individuals, again, we just would recommend you to be exceedingly careful. You know you are at a much greater risk if you get it.”
He has been informed that health conditions such as chronic lung disease, moderate to severe asthma, obesity, diabetes, kidney disease, dialysis, liver disease and more. These conditions can put a person at a much greater risk of death if they get the virus, but any person can die due to COVID-19.
Dewine is opening up the economy for many reasons. He said he feels sorry for those who are unemployed and would want those people to be able to get back to working again and getting their deserved paychecks. He also would like to decrease the consequences of the economy crashing, such as increasing rates of depression and domestic violence. Along with these, DeWine wants our community to be safe and by ensuring that these health precautions take place, he is hoping to decrease the spread of COVID-19.
Cases of the coronavirus have been decreasing in Ohio but the state still has many cases of the virus. Since April 27, there have been 16,325 reported cases and 753 deaths.
DeWine said, “If we’re to move the economy forward, open things up, we’ve got to be able to do the testing, we’ve got to be able to do the tracing and you all have got to continue to do the separation and all the things that you have been doing.”
Although we have slowed down the spread of COVID-19, the virus is still here and just as deadly, so he wants to ensure that we all continue social distancing, washing our hands, sanitizing surfaces, and wearing face coverings (masks).
Dewine said, “We need two additional things. We need to ramp up testing dramatically and we need, at the same time, to do the tracing.” His plan for testing is to increase testing by thousands each week starting at 7,228 tests each day by April 29.
Besides the testing, he wants to uphold tracing, which makes sure someone who has been exposed to the virus doesn’t expose someone else. For the Contact Tracing Workforce, Governor DeWine is going to have people train workers and volunteers to help the Local Health Department with any overload of work that they might obtain.
Governor DeWine and members of Congress have been talking with each other and people like restaurant owners, etc. to discuss when it will be appropriate to open up. In a few weeks, Governor DeWine said he will look at the statistics involving the coronavirus and will continue making decisions with the health department about reopenings.
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