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Protestors Decry Business Closures, Stay At Home Orders

Ohio Public Radio

Protestors marched down High Street and gathered outside the Statehouse today during Governor DeWine's afternoon coronavirus briefing. 

Wearing masks and waving signs that read "Open Ohio" and "Quarantine Is Worse Than The Virus" the nearly 100 protestors challenged DeWine and state Health Director Doctor Amy Acton's right to shut down businesses during the pandemic and order Ohioans to stay at home.  DeWine says he understands the frustration: 

Acton says the state needs to make science-based decisions in the battle against the coronavirus, and she compared it to climbing a mountain.  

Public orders closing schools and businesses began in mid-March, and the original Stay At Home order was extended to May 1st.   The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services says nearly 700,000 people filed claims for unemployment insurance benefits last week, nearly double the number of claims for all of 2019. 
 

A native of Chicago, naturalized citizen of Cincinnati and resident of Columbus, Alison attended Earlham College and the Ohio State University. She has equal passion for Midwest history, hockey and Slavic poetry.
The Statehouse News Bureau was founded in 1980 to provide educational, comprehensive coverage of legislation, elections, issues and other activities surrounding the Statehouse to Ohio's public radio and television stations. To this day, the Bureau remains the only broadcast outlet dedicated to in-depth coverage of state government news and topics of statewide interest. The Bureau is funded througheTech Ohio, and is managed by ideastream. The reporters at the Bureau follow the concerns of the citizens and voters of Ohio, as well as the actions of the Governor, the Ohio General Assembly, the Ohio Supreme Court, and other elected officials. We strive to cover statehouse news, government issues, Ohio politics, and concerns of business, culture and the arts with balance and fairness, and work to present diverse voices and points of view from the Statehouse and throughout Ohio. The three award-winning journalists at the bureau have more than 60 combined years of radio and television experience. They can be heard on National Public Radio and are regular contributors to Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Marketplace. Every weekday, the Statehouse News Bureau produces in-depth news reports forOhio's public radio stations. Those stories are also available on this website, either on the front page or in our archives. Weekly, the Statehouse News Bureau produces a television show from our studios in the Statehouse. The State of Ohio is an unique blend of news, interviews, talk and analysis, and is broadcast on Ohio's public television stations. The Statehouse News Bureau also produces special programming throughout the year, including the Governor's annual State of the State address to the Ohio General Assembly and a five-part year-end review.
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