State officials say there are more than 2,500 coronavirus cases in Ohio with 679 hospitalizations and 65 fatalities. Today's update also included a couple new state orders, including one regarding testing turnaround time.
"Those hospitals that send their specimens to a third party, beginning today you will be required to send this to another hospital that can make a quick turnaround for you," Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said. "We've already confirmed that Ohio State, Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals and MetroHealth in Cleveland all have capacity and are willing to take your tests. Some of these labs have a very significant unused capacity each day."
The Ohio Department of Health will also increase its capacity to analyze tests, going to three shifts to do so. Additional hospitals able to provide faster results will be identified on the state's website - coronavirus.ohio.gov. The state also launched a new website today seeking help from manufacturers to provide PPE and other medical devices healthcare workers need.
"You'll see all the different things that we need," DeWine said. "Please take a look at that. Some of these items include swabs, sample collection tubes, ventilators, oxygen, goggles, gowns, and masks. The full list is on the website, and it's an extensive list. The money will be there. Let us know what your capability is, what you think you can do, and how long it will take. We need your help. Please go to that webpage as soon as you can."
The website is repurposingproject.com. Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted announced another state order today designed to slow the economic spread of the virus with respect to lenders and landlords.
"If somebody cannot pay their rent and we're not evicting them, that means the person who owns that apartment complex - who also has a commercial mortgage - they aren't receiving the money they need to pay back their lender," Husted said. "If we don't solve this chain, then the person at the bottom also gets hurt because the person who owns that particular facility will be foreclosed upon and then unable to provide services down the line. This affects everybody from small businesses to tenants and so forth. What we're really doing with this is creating a 90-day pause in this process. Allow for this 90-day deferral to hopefully get the lenders to put that on the back end of the loan with their principal and interest and avoid those penalties. If we do this right and hit that pause button, everybody in the process will get a chance to get through this."
And as officials have been hinting at with each briefing, there won't be an immediate return to normalcy. Instead, it'll be gradual. Given that reality, Ohio Department of Health director Amy Acton encouraged residents to maintain a sense of kindness and patience.
"It's hard," Dr. Acton admitted. "I lose my own temper occasionally, especially with the urgency I feel. So this is a plea to myself first and foremost but to all of us. We've got a bit of a gauntlet ahead of staying in the same groundhog's day. So when you feel yourself, take that check. Don't beat yourself up too much. Just try again because just like a virus is contagious, our moods are contagious and they spread to everyone around us."
The latest models estimate the virus peaking in Ohio in mid-to-late April.
