Clinton County’s total of confirmed coronavirus cases went from five Wednesday to six Thursday, with one of those hospitalized.
In Ohio, the latest numbers show 2,902 confirmed cases in Ohio, with 802 hospitalizations and 81 deaths.
Gov. Mike DeWine, at his daily briefing Thursday afternoon and via Twitter, said, “I want to talk directly to all Ohioans. Thank you for all you’ve been doing. The sacrifices you’ve been making. This isn’t easy. We fully understand that. But we have to stay in this.
”We cannot let what we’ve accomplished go — we’ve accomplished a lot. We don’t know when we will hit the peak. Between April 15 and May 15. It changes based on the info we have.
“The sacrifices you are making are saving lives. My biggest worry is that in the quiet before the storm we forget how important our choices are and how many lives we are impacting.
“We all understand that this is tough. Congress has come forward with a comprehensive bill … it doesn’t mean that it gets people back where they were, but it is helpful. I urge you to look at that bill to see what can be of direct help to you.
Lt. Gov. Jon Husted noted, “We’ve created a new website listing current open jobs in Ohio: http://Coronavirus.Ohio.gov/JobSearch . There are 11,903 jobs listed and these are the people who need people the most. Employers can go online and post jobs. If you’re in a position to work, please do. They need you.”
He added, “For the week ending March 28, 2020, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services reported 272,117 initial jobless claims to the U.S. Dept. of Labor, which set a record for the second straight week.”
DeWine addressed other topics, including via Twitter:
• Overcrowded stores: “The new order requires retail businesses to establish the number of people who should be in the business at one time. We’re not telling them the number b/c businesses are all different. But businesses must determine their number and post it.”
• People traveling to Ohio: “We ask those coming into our state to self-quarantined for 14 days. There are exemptions for those who work over state lines, but this is for those who have been out of state for some time.”
• Weddings: “We are not going to regulate weddings. We leave it up to people’s judgement. We’ve heard that some are having the full reception. The reception MUST follow the same rules — no more than 10 people. Weddings are not exempt from this.”
• Campgrounds: “We are clarifying the stay at home order to close campgrounds with the exception where a camper or recreational vehicle in a campground serves as somebody’s permanent residence and they are unable to secure safe alternative housing.”
• Fishing: “Fishing can continue, but people should observe proper social distancing not congregate together.”
• State parks are open. “We don’t want to close the state parks, but the Ohio DNR director can take action to enforce the orders we’ve issued.“
