COLUMBUS, Ohio – March 9 was the one-year anniversary of Executive Order 2020-01D, the state of emergency “to protect the well-being of the citizens of Ohio from the dangerous effects of COVID-19.”
During a briefing the same day, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced the emergency as a tool to allow the State of Ohio to purchase health-related items.
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Today Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced Ohio Department of Health (ODH) Director Stephanie McCloud signed the Director’s Second Amended Order that All Persons Stay at Home During Specified Hours Unless Engaged in Work or Essential Activity.
Sources inside the state government told The Star in November that the original curfew order came as a reaction to significant backlash from Ohioans as information leaked that Governor DeWine was going to push for another shutdown.
One source said, “people in the room when the decision was made agreed that a curfew wouldn’t do anything significant,” but would be an acceptable compromise the DeWine team would accept.
This is the seventh story in an eight-part series on the Ohio Public Health Advisory System (OPHAS). OPHAS is a tool created to supplement the state’s reporting on cases, hospitalizations and deaths. The color-coded map assigns each of Ohio’s 88 counties a color determined by how many of the seven indicators comprising OPHAS are triggered by each county. The colors: yellow (0-1 indicator), orange (2-3 indicators), red (4-5 indicators) and purple (6-7 indicators). The seven indicators making up OPHAS are: 1)-new cases per capita, 2)-sustained increase in new cases, 3)-proportion of cases not in a congregate setting, 4)-sustained increase in emergency department (ED) visits for COVID-like illness, 5)-sustained increase in outpatient visits for COVID-like illness, 6)-sustained increase in new COVID hospital admissions, 7)-intensive care unit (ICU) bed occupancy. Indicator 6, sustained increase in new COVID hospitalizations, is flagged if there is an increasing trend of at least 5 consecutive days in the number of new hospitalizations due to COVID over the last 3 weeks. According to the Ohio COVID website, indicator six is an “important indicator of hospital burden and disease severity.” However, the measure does not give respect to the population size of the county, it simply flags…
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This is the sixth story in and eight-part series on the Ohio Public Health Advisory System (OPHAS). The system assigns one of four colors to each of Ohio’s 88 counties based on the level of COVID exposure and spread.
OPHAS is a supplement to the numerous statewide COVID mandates and is supposed to be a data-driven framework that gives local leaders a tool for use in deciding local and county school, business and other public policies.
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Last week The Ohio Star broke the story of Alecia Kitts. She is the Ohio mom who was tased, arrested and escorted from a football stadium because she refused to wear a mask at her son’s middle school football game – consequently, Kitts was charged with criminal trespass, resisting arrest and obstructing official business. Kitts refused to comply with the request to put on a mask claiming an exemption for her asthma. She was also seated away from other fans. At the heart of the controversy is whether schools are required to honor mask exemptions written into the statewide mask order and the Ohio sports order, the latter which gives schools guidelines for conducting sports contests. The July 23 statewide mask order contains a list of exemptions: Those with a medical condition or a disability or those communicating with someone with a disability; Those who are actively exercising or playing sports; Those who are officiants at religious services; Those who are actively involved in public safety; or Those who are actively eating or drinking. The sports order released by the Ohio Department of Health Interim Director Lance Himes includes the same exemptions from the statewide mask order. The order…
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Ohio State Representative John Becker (R-Union Township, Clermont County) filed a Private Citizen Affidavit announcing 10 criminal charges against Ohio Republican Governor Mike DeWine Monday.
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Alecia Kitts drove an hour and a half from Marietta to Logan, Ohio to watch her son’s seventh grade football game.
In the first quarter she was approached by an officer from the Logan Police Department because she was not wearing a mask.
The video below shows the three-minute encounter between Kitts and the officer.
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Nineteen state representatives signed on to support law that would effectively put an end to COVID restrictions, the bill’s author, State Representative Diane Grendell (R-Chesterland) told The Ohio Star Wednesday.
“Government cannot protect us from every single one of life’s risks,” Grendell said.
The Star reported that the Representative-crafted a bill that would immediately cancel Governor Mike DeWine’s Executive Order declaring a state of emergency in Ohio.
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Ohio Department of Health Interim Director Lance Himes signed an order on July 2 that went into effect on July 20. The mandate permits outdoor visitations at senior homes around the state and prohibits indoor visits.
“If you have a loved one and you cannot get into a nursing home, that is the nursing home that is stopping you from going in – it is not the health department” said Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on September 17 during a semiweekly COVID press conference.
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Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said during a press conference on September 17 he would not support a bill drafted by Ohio state Representative Diane Grendell (R-Chesterland). The legislation, “Restore Ohio Now”, seeks to cancel the state of emergency declared on March 9 – consequently making impotent COVID orders made enforceable because of the emergency.
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Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s Press Secretary Dan Tierney clarified the governor’s remarks made on September 8 regarding internet rumors about Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) camps and kids being pulled from home to stay overnight at school being “garbage.”
Tierney said in an interview with The Ohio Star that messages the governor received over the weekend preceding the Tuesday press briefing came from concerned Ohioans who were commenting on a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) infographic that showed up on social media over the weekend.
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This is the first story in an eight-part series on the Ohio Public Health Advisory System
On July 2, Ohio Republican Governor Mike DeWine introduced the Ohio Public Health Advisory System (OPHAS). The color-coded map assigns a color to each of Ohio’s 88 counties that is supposed to be indicative of each county’s COVID spread.
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Although Governor Mike DeWine chose to accept the $300 per week per out-of-work Ohioan offered by President Donald Trump in enhanced unemployment benefits, the Ohio Republican has decided to decline to add an additional $100 per week suggested by the White House.
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John Zeiger is a partner at Zeiger, Tigges & Little LLP, the law firm the Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s office hired to defend the State of Ohio in litigation popping up around the state as a consequence of Ohio’s COVID orders, mandates and policies – lawsuits naming as defendants Governor Michael DeWine, Ohio Department of Health Interim Director Lance Himes, former Director of Health Amy Acton, and certain health districts.
John Zeiger is also Leslie Wexner’s family lawyer. Leslie Wexner is a billionaire business titan, founder and chairman emeritus of L Brands, the parent company of, among other notable brands, Victoria’s Secret.
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Minneapolis business owners are reeling after Governor Mayor Jacob Frey’s latest order closing “bar areas” indefinitely starting Saturday.
According to the Minnesota Emergency Regulation 2020-17, counter service at bar areas will be prohibited. The regulation extends to dance floor areas, stages, game rooms, or “any space that is undefined or does not provide for seated food and/or beverage service.” The city estimates that this will impact more than 640 businesses.
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