OHIO – Governor Dewine said today during a news conference that he will extend the already in place curfew that was set to expire later this week.
Dewine said during the conference that Ohioans should expect a significant spike in COVID-19 cases on Tuesday as the state is changing how it counts antigen testing due to backlog.
- Today’s case count is the 6th highest daily total since the pandemic began, but it is too early to tell if Thanksgiving will have any impact. DeWine said the cases are slowing down. DeWine said while the masking order and curfew have slowed the cases, hospital officials are saying the rate is unsustainable.
- DeWine said across the state schools are having issues with keeping bus drivers and teachers working due to coronavirus. As of last Thursday, 29% of students in the state were learning in person, 25% of students were on a hybrid model, 45% of students in the state are on full remote plans and 1% attend schools that are closed.
- Antigen COVID-19 tests will now be reported by the state in alignment with the CDC guidance. Previously, the state had been verifying these tests by checking if there was a known exposure to a positive person or if they were symptomatic, which was a manual process. State epidemiologists said they can no longer keep up with that process. The state currently has 12,600 positive antigen tests that are in the queue and have not been included in the numbers reported daily. “Tomorrow, we will clear those backlogged antigen tests, and they will be added to our reported case counts. That will result in a one-day spike in reported cases tomorrow. These cases will be assigned to their appropriate onset date,” DeWine said.
- DeWine said he had discussions with Sen. Rob Portman (R) and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) today to encourage Congress to make a deal on coronavirus relief. “What was done in the Spring made all the difference in the world,” DeWine said. “It matters a lot for our economy.”
- DeWine clarified statements he made last week about the state needing to do more in terms of combating coronavirus. The governor said he meant that Ohioans need to reduce their contacts with other people even more than what they’ve been doing since the curfew went into place.
- DeWine said he expects to extend the curfew that was set to expire later this week, but will have more details on that later.
