Friday afternoon, the U.S. House approved a $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package by voice vote. President Donald Trump signed the measure a few hours later, before the White House coronavirus task force met with reporters.
There are now at least 1,137 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Ohio with 19 deaths, according to the Ohio Department of Health. Four of the confirmed deaths are from Miami County. Of the 1,137 cases, 276 have been hospitalized with 107 in intensive care.
Ohio Department of Health officials said they do not track the number of recoveries.
President Trump and the White House coronavirus task force gave their daily briefing about 5:55 p.m.
Here are the highlights:
- Trump invoked the Defense Production Act, ordering General Motors to produce ventilators. "They weren't talking right in the beginning," the president said of GM. In partnership with Ventec, a GM plant in Kokomo, Indiana, will build the ventilators, and a previously closed plant in Michigan that once made transmissions now will produce surgical masks.
- Trump signed orders relaxing regulations so companies -- Phillips, General Electric and others -- can make ventilators more quickly
- Apple is providing a COVID-19 app, which will take the user through a series of questions to help the user determine they should be tested
- Boeing will make thousands of face shields, the president said
- "I'm not going to be hugging people," Trump said of concerns about the possibility of his being exposed to the coronavirus Saturday while in Virginia for the launching of the hospital ship USNS Comfort to New York. "I think it sends a message when the president of the United States says 'thank you.' We'll be careful."
- Trump, when a reporter asked what the president would tell America's children, said, "They should be very proud of their country. They should sit back and learn from it [the coronavirus pandemic]. "We're doing it [fighting the virus] for them."
Public Health - Dayton & Montgomery County held its daily coronavirus update at 4 p.m.
Here are the highlights:
- Area hotels are cooperating with Operation Stop COVID, the St. Vincent DePaul effort to move people in high-rick health categories into satellite shelters from St. Vincent DePaul's main and two emergency shelters, Executive Director Michael Vanderburgh said.
- Mayor Nan Whaley said to contact her office if you cannot get a prescription because your ID is expired. It is not state law to require an ID to get a prescription, she said. The requirement may be an individual company policy. She said she wants to know specific instances of denials.
- Go to mcohio.org you're looking for work, to volunteer or for more information about SNAP benefits, County Commissioner Judy Dodge said
- "We are begging and pleading with you to stay home," Whaley said, because the virus is moving quickly and a surge is expected in Ohio sometime in May.
- "Please, please keep your distance. (This weekend) is not an opportunity to get together," the mayor said.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine held his daily news conference today at 2 p.m.
The following announcements have been made:
- Gov. Mike DeWine signed the emergency bill passed by the Ohio legislature that extended the Ohio primary to April 28 by absentee ballot only. The bill also waives regulations on schools, teachers, and students around requirements that formerly had to happen in person; ensures that state and local governments operate, but safely and in full transparency for the public; extends income tax deadline; and much more.
- Sen. Rob Portman ran through several of the big items addressed in the $2 trillion economic stimulus package passed by Congress, including significant funding for the healthcare and hospital systems across the country.
- Portman also discussed the checks that will be sent to Ohioans following the signing of the stimulus package.
- DeWine said Ohio is expecting to see a much harder uptick in cases in two weeks, according to Cleveland Clinic research.
- DeWine said models from Cleveland Clinic show the peak arriving in Ohio now in mid-May. Hospitals should be planning for two to three times the current capacity build-out we have at our hospitals, DeWine said.
- The governor has divided the state into eight regions and asked each to draft plans for hospital capacity buildup by 9 a.m. Saturday. The Ohio National Guard will oversee the buildup.
- Ohio has tested 20,149 people for the coronavirus. Sixteen percent of the confirmed positive cases in the state involve healthcare workers.
- At its peak in Ohio, Dr. Amy Acton said we could see 10,000 new coronavirus cases each day in the state.
- Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said the following businesses are just a few that are hiring:
- Kroger, Walmart, Giant Eagle, Marcs, Amazon and Drug Mart.
- The state has asked health departments and police: If they see something that is a hot spot of people gathering to very nicely tell them they can't congregate.
- DeWine hasn't issued an order about travel, but people who come into Ohio are asked to self-quarantine for 14 days.
- Acton said the state may look to change roles for nurses, doctors and other medical professionals roles to meet the need from the coronavirus pandemic.
Local Confirmed Cases:
- Butler - 23
- Champaign - 2
- Clark - 2
- Clinton - 2
- Darke -1
- Greene - 3
- Miami - 32
- Montgomery - 19
- Shelby - 1
- Warren - 11
Here is what you need to know:
- Gov. Mike DeWine postponed his annual State of the State Address to a later date. The address had been scheduled to occur in the House Chamber in the Ohio Statehouse on March 31. The change was mutually agreed upon by DeWine, the state Senate president and House speaker.
- Weddings and funerals are permitted under the stay-at-home order, but the governor asks that large group gatherings not happen. He said many have postponed the ceremony portions of those events.
- Dr. Amy Acton, state health department director, said 17,316 people have been tested for coronavirus.
- She said 145 of the 867 who tested positive in Ohio are health care workers. That's approximately 17 percent of the positive cases, she said.
- The state has decreased the impact of coronavirus on the health care system by 50 to 75 percent with the current restrictions in place, Acton said. Ohioans have to do more, though, to lower the curve, she said.
- Unemployment pay will be retroactive to the time you qualified for it, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said.
- The state is working to add servers and build capacity for the unemployment web site. The goal is increasing its capacity to 15 times the regular capacity.
- Acton said the state is working with Miami County Public Health to provide a set of guidelines to assist with handling the outbreak at Koester Pavilion Assisted Living and Springmeade.
- Acton said based on the best data the state, at the Coronavirus peak surge, could be seeing 6,000 to 8,000 new cases a day. "The more we can push that surge off, the better hospitals can prepare their systems."
National News:
- The U.S. has the most confirmed cases of COVD-19 in the World passing China with more than 85,000 cases. With the U.S. having around 1,300 deaths linked to the virus.
- New York state's death toll spiked 100 in one day; making their new total 385.
>>US cases now most in world, US capital sees more infections
- More than 120,000 people have recovered from the virus, according to the Johns Hopkins tally.
Local News:
A local Bergamo, Italy, native warns everyone in Ohio about how serious the coronavirus is.
Giovanni Principe, who grew up in Bergamo, Italy, has a message for all the Ohioans who aren’t taking the stay-at-home or social distancing orders seriously or who don’t think the coronavirus pandemic is serious:
>>Coronavirus: Bergamo, Italy, native warns everyone in Ohio to 'stay home'
- "It's not a flu. It's worse than what you can imagine," Principe told News Center 7's Sean Cudahy on Thursday night. "Stay home! Listen to [Ohio Department of Health Director] Doctor Amy Acton.... I say it again. Stay home!"
- Principe said he lost a cousin back home in Italy, a relative so sick he didn't make it to the hospital.
- Principe said his best man's father contracted the virus and died in a hospital.
- "I see what is happening to my friends," he told Cudahy. "It's like an every day horror movie that never ends."
- Family members stricken with the virus are taken from their homes "wrapped in plastic" to the hospitals and their relatives "don't see them any more."
- As soon as someone dies, Principe said, they are put in a casket and the casket is sealed
>>Coronavirus: Mail-in voting raises stakes for Bellbrook Sugarcreek school levy
Those spearheading groups that are for and against the Bellbrook Sugarcreek schools levy said they will have to work harder to make sure voters mail in their ballots under the new directives the state legislature ordered this week.
>> School counselors, law enforcement buddy up for students
Gov. Mike DeWine has indicated he will sign the bill, which will require registered voters who didn’t early vote to request an absentee ballot by mail or by phone. Then, once filled in, voters will have to mail in their ballots or drop them off at the board of elections by April 27.
- One of the items on the ballot for Greene County voters will be the Bellbrook Sugarcreek schools levy, which asks voters to approve $3.3 million a year in new taxes.
- Those for and against the ballot measure fear people won't vote at all because of the new state process.
- If the levy passes, the owner of home valued at $100,000 would pay $200 more a year in property taxes.