04/21/2020

COVID-19 Update: 557 Deaths and nearly 13,300 Confirmed Cases

April 21, 2020

Today, Governor Mike DeWine and Dr. Amy Acton held their daily press briefing to bring Ohioans the most updated information related to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak. As of today at 2 p.m., there have been 538 confirmed deaths and 19 probable deaths for a total of 557 deaths. The state has 13,250 confirmed cases and 475 probable cases for a total number of 13,725 cases. There have been 2,779 hospitalizations with 838 ICU admissions

This week, the Ohio Bureau of Worker’ Compensation (BWC) will begin sending up to $1.6 billion in dividends to Ohio employers to ease the impact of COVID-19 on Ohio’s business community and economy. The dividend equals approximately 100 percent of the premiums employers paid in policy year 2018.  Approximately $1.4 billion will go to private employers and nearly $200 million will go to local government taxing districts. For a county breakdown of the dividend, visit this link on the BWC’s website. Dividends for specific public employers are public record and can be found at this link. 

Today, JobsOhio, Peoples Bank and First Federal/Home Savings Bank announced a partnership to support existing small business clients with maintaining operations and payroll during the COVID-19 pandemic. JobsOhio has committed up to $50 million to assist with this. For information on how to apply for this lending support, businesses should visit PeoplesBancorp.com/Coronavirus, First-fedbanking.com/COVID-19 or Homesavings.com/COVID-19.

DeWine announced the creation of a new Testing Strike Force team lead by former Governors Richard Celeste and Bob Taft that will work with leaders from business, academia, and public health to be part of the effort to help Ohio source critical testing items, such as reagents. DeWine also announced that the FDA has approved the use of a new reagent for testing developed by Thermo Fisher that will help with the state’s testing capabilities. 

The FDA has authorized the first diagnostic test with a home collection option for COVID-19. Specifically, the FDA re-issued the emergency use authorization (EUA) for the Laboratory Corporation of America (LabCorp) COVID-19 RT-PCR Test to permit testing of samples self-collected by patients at home using LabCorp’s Pixel by LabCorp COVID-19 Test home collection kit. To read the complete announcement, please select this link.

The governor also announced that the Ohio Department of Agriculture has waived the required $50,000 local match for the Agricultural Society Facilities Grant Program. Ohio’s operating budget set aside this grant funding to help fairs make necessary facilities and grounds improvements. Fairs could apply for the $50,000 grant with a required $50,000 from local governments and businesses. Fair managers have until May 30 to apply via the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s website.