It is amazing in our lifetime the number of events that have taken place over the years that have had great impact on our daily lives. Some have impacted us as a farming community, such as the drought of 1988 or the extreme wet weather we just experienced this past year.
The other events are those that have impacted us a country and or world. I won’t go into all of those, but I will comment on the current situation of the coronavirus/COVID-19 and the impact it will have on our day-to-day operations here at the extension office.
Unless you are not connected at all to the outside world, you should be aware there has been confirmation of the coronavirus in the state of Ohio leading to public health concerns related to disease transmission.
The governor has implemented a plan that you should all be aware of. The sports world has postponed or canceled almost every sports event I can think of. And as a result, The Ohio State University has been proactively implementing protocols for ensuring the safety and health for our students and clientele.
After consultation with the college and university leadership, almost all OSU Extension events have been postponed/cancelled, or will be held virtually, through March 30. We are following guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control, Ohio Department of Health, and the university in being aggressively proactive to prevent the potential spread of communicable respiratory illness.
We in Extension have also been advised not to schedule any new events until after April 20.
We understand that this may cause an inconvenience to individuals and families within our county, but your health and the health of our community at-large is our biggest priority.
Clinton County Extension will be postponing or cancelling any scheduled program/gatherings, or utilize virtual meetings. We are also encouraging everyone to call or email us first and not to come to the office if not necessary as we are being told to discourage even face-to-face meetings to help keep within the guidelines to insure human safety through March 30 to provide time for additional vigilance as we learn more about how this virus is affecting Ohioans.
As I stated earlier, The Ohio State University is implementing protocols for us to follow and at this time these are changing almost on an hourly basis. We will communicate with the community as we can to changes we must implement by guidance of the university or the governor or both.
As employees of Ohio State University we are still expected to come to work, work with clientele through phone, emails or through virtual means. We have now been informed we are not allowed to travel across county lines for OSU business purposes except to travel to our main offices. We are expecting continued evolution of procedure and protocol as things move forward.
Remember, basically all activities through the Clinton County Extension Office are canceled. If you have further questions please feel free to contact us at the Clinton County Extension Office at 937-382-0901. Email Tony Nye at [email protected] or Tracie Montague at [email protected].
One further note that Monte Anderson ofWilmington College asked me to include in this week’s column: The showing of the movie “Silo” and associated activities that was to be held next Tuesday at the Heiland Theatre at Wilmington College has been canceled and will be rescheduled at a later time. Again, if you have questions regarding this activity, give us a call at the Extension Office.
Tony Nye is the state coordinator for the Ohio State University Extension Small Farm Program and has been an OSU Extension Educator for agriculture and natural resources for over 30 years, currently serving Clinton County and the Miami Valley EERA.
