Businesses across Ohio are ramping up to re-open and preparing to implement many safety measures as a new week approaches.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Thursday, at the state’s daily briefing and via Twitter, announced important dates including:
May 15 — Restaurants may open for outdoor dining
May 15 — Personal service re-opening day including hair salons, barber shops, day spas, nail salons “and other services.”
May 21 — Restaurants may open for dine-in service
DeWine said, “For the last week or so, we’ve talked about how we need to do two things at once: bring back the economy and stay safe. We are Ohioans. We can do it. How we open up is so very, very important. The ‘how’ is an essential part of how successful we’re going to be.
“We’ve asked businessmen and businesswomen from across the state to work with the Ohio Department of Health to come up with the best practices about how we open different sectors back up in Ohio.
DeWine had earlier announced that, on Monday, May 12, consumer and retail stores and services may re-open, but face masks are required for employees inside the business.
Also, essential businesses that were allowed to stay open must abide by the new guidelines.
For more specifics from the state and other updates and information, visit https://coronavirus.ohio.gov .
Local cases
Clinton County officials on Thursday afternoon reported the county now stands at 27 confirmed cases plus five probable ones for a total of 32, comprised of 18 women and 14 men. Three are currently hospitalized, and 23 people have recovered. The age range, which had been 26-78 for several weeks, is now 26-91.
Ohio cases
The State of Ohio reports, as of the Thursday afternoon update, 22.131 total COVID-19 cases (including probable cases). Overall, 55 percent are males and 44 percent females, with 1,167 ICU admissions, 4,140 hospitalizations and 1,271 deaths (including deaths from probable cases).
Jobless in Ohio and US
For the week ending May 2, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) reported 61,083 initial jobless claims to the U.S. Dept. of Labor.
The number of initial jobless claims filed in Ohio over the last seven weeks — 1,118,569 — is 1,112 more than the combined total of 1,117,457 for the last three years.
Over these last seven weeks, ODJFS has distributed more than $1.9 billion in unemployment compensation payments to more than 536,000 Ohioans. ODJFS urges individuals to file their claims online, if possible, at unemployment.ohio.gov.
Thursday’s report arrived a few hours before and restaurants.
Meanwhile, some have criticized the state for its publication of a website where employers can report employees “who quit or refuse work when it is available due to COVID-19.”
Fear of the virus is not a sufficient reason to refuse work, Kimberly Hall, Job and Family Services director, said earlier this week. But the agency also looks at employment situations that are unsafe for workers.
Nationally, nearly 3.2 million laid-off workers applied for unemployment benefits last week.
Roughly 33.5 million people have now filed for jobless aid in the seven weeks since the coronavirus outbreak began, forcing millions of employers to close their doors.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
