Complete Story
03/26/2020
Ohio Press Conferences
Ohio Press Conference: 3/25/2020
Open: Fran DeWine started by sharing some personal stories of people making homemade PPE (for personal use if sick, not for healthcare), dropping off gift packs to those you can’t be with in person (crafts and such), sharing pictures/videos, writing letters, sign up for Ohio Governor’s Imagination Library (ohioimaginationlibrary.org) – book in mail every month from birth to age 5, new recipes. Think about the memories we’re making for kids – how will we all look back in 20 years? Look at it as a time of family bonding vs. time of fear.
Governor DeWine Remarks:
• Keeping eye to future with opening of baseball eventually.
• Thanks for various groups and asked some to do more. Example: P&G – engaged youth through social media to follow social distance protocols (6MM views). #DistanceDance
• Update: still don’t have enough PPE for health providers. Did get our share from
national distribution, but not enough. Still postponing elective surgeries. Appreciate
private sector donating to health care.
• Ohio Congressional Delegation: Third package passed overnight – unemployment, food aid, loans, etc.
• General Assembly: bill working way through Senate, going to House today. Thanks for bipartisan support. Good start but a long way to go.
Dr. Acton Remarks:
• Spent morning at Emergency Operating Center – hub of command for statewide
response.
• Data points:
- Total cases: 704 (still saying “tip of the iceberg” due to limited testing)
- Median age: 51; 47% Female, 53% male
- 182 - hospitalized, 75 - ICU, 24 - long term care; 116 - health care workers
- 10 deaths
- 14764 tests done in Ohio (not sure on negative test data)
- 140 new cases reported today
• Website: will be updating data in real time as best they can
• County data: based on testing not on where they live
• Not hospitalized: 74%; in ICU: 15%, non-ICU – 11%
- ICU is critical number – this is the area of most need
• Ages: 70% of cases over age 40; fatalities can happen across any age range
• Call Center (833-4-ASK-ODH) – not a legal aid center for workplace questions, should be used for health questions only.
• Repeating: stay at home, okay to go for walks but maintain distance.
Read the full recap for Wednesday, March 25th
Governor of Ohio Press Conference: 3/24/2020
Opening: played a video of several Ohio celebrities/personalities speaking about the need to “flatten the curve” and reviewing the techniques we all can do to help stop the spread of the virus. Can be found on website: www.coronavirus.ohio.gov.
Governor DeWine Remarks:
• Ohio has been watching the data and actions of other countries and states to help guide policy. Overarching Goal: do not overwhelm the healthcare system so that we can deal with cases of the coronavirus while still taking care of all of the other medical
emergencies as they occur.
• On the medical front – putting a focus on increasing hospital capacity.
- State medical team lead by Dr. Amy Acton now working with the state
Emergency Operations Center – an existing agency to handle any type of
emergency that occurs within the state – to increase response capabilities.
- Model shows that we still haven’t reached the peak of the curve, still on the
upswing. Remaining focused on Prevention and Preparation.
• On the economic front:
- Stated he is very understanding of the economic sacrifices and hardships that
this is causing to our families. Reminder of the goal – to protect lives.
- Has been asked about the comments being made by President Trump regarding
the timeline for getting back to a more normal state:
- Feels that they are aligned about getting this over as soon as possible and
getting people back to work; he shares the frustration over the situation.
- Governor believes that protecting the health of citizens and also protecting the economy are not mutually exclusive. Saving lives is important step in saving the economy.
Dr. Acton Remarks:
• Opened by thanking the medical and communications teams that are working so hard to help people and provide the best information they can.
• Her role is to share the data we have:
- Current confirmed cases: 564; said this is the “tip of the iceberg” because of lag
time between tests and data collection
- Cases in 49 counties (out of 88); age range is <1 to 95 years old.
- Have had 8 confirmed deaths so far.
- Currently have 145 cases hospitalized – 62 of those are in Intensive Care Units
(ICU) – 25 of those cases have come from long term care facilities
- Highest case rate is in Cuyahoga County (Cleveland) - 167, then Franklin County
(Columbus) - 75
• Ohio’s Curve:
- US curve is currently following pace of Italy; Ohio is on pace with the US curve
- Ohio is seeing a 7-14 day lag following the New York curve (which is outpacing the Italy curve for cases/1MM people)
• Stopping the spread is critical – unchecked we would be seeing up to 6000 new cases per day
