Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ohio

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the US state of Ohio in multiple ways.

Coronavirus in Ohio
Main article: COVID-19 pandemic in Ohio
Shelves cleared of facial tissues on March 15th
Members of the Ohio National Guard wearing protective gloves while monitoring incoming vehicles.

On abortion

On March 17, after Acton issued an order prohibiting nonessential surgeries to preserve personal protective equipment (PPE),[1] DeWine said abortions should be included except when the pregnant woman's life is at risk.[2] Deputy Attorney General Jonathan Fulkerson sent letters to three abortion providers to compel them to comply with the state ban on nonessential medical procedures. District Court judge Michael Barrett ruled in favor of Planned Parenthood on April 1, ordering a two-week suspension of the ban.[3] The State of Ohio appealed Barrett's decision and asked him to put a hold on his order until the appeal was decided, which he declined to do. State of Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost later clarified that all medical abortions were still allowed, and that "doctors remain free to perform surgical abortions necessary for a mother's health or life, and also surgical abortions that cannot be delayed without jeopardizing the patient's abortion rights."[1] On April 6, the State's request for an appeal was dismissed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.[4]

On employment

NPR reported on March 24 that "Almost 140,000 people filed for unemployment benefits in Ohio last week compared with fewer than 5,000 a week earlier."[5] On April 7, when asked about delays in filing, Lieutenant Governor Husted said over 500 additional employees had been hired to process applications, bringing the number of employees of Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services to 829 employees.[6]

On education
Social distancing measure taken in a university computer lab on March 13th.

On March 10 DeWine asked colleges and universities to go to remote classes.[7] Within several days many private and public colleges and universities had announced campus closings and a move to online classes.[8][9][10][11] On March 12 DeWine closed all K-12 schools starting March 16.[12] On March 30 he extended those closings to May 1.[13] On April 20, he ordered that all K-12 schools in the state remain closed for the rest of the 2019–2020 academic year [14] On May 6, Governor DeWine announced a $775 million budget reduction over the next two months. Spending on K-12 schools will be reduced by $300 million. Spending on other education will be reduced by $55 million and higher education spending will be reduced by $110 million.[15]

On religion

The bishops of the Catholic Conference of Ohio suspended all public Masses in Ohio beginning March 16, dispensing with the obligation to attend Sunday Mass initially through Easter.[16][17][18] On April 28, the suspension of mass and dispensation was extended through May 29.[19] On May 8, the bishops announced the resumption of daily public Masses on May 25, with the dispensation continuing indefinitely.[20]

The Genoa Baptist Church of Westerville, Ohio switched to a drive in format.[21] The Bishop of the East Ohio conference of the United Methodist Church urged the temporary closing of Methodist churches.[22] Ohio's Amish steering committee advised all church districts to heed the state's orders against gatherings of more than 10, telling Amish ”to cancel or postpone weddings, youth and family gatherings until further notice.”[23]

On the restaurant industry
A restaurant in Perrysburg advertising takeout ordering during the pandemic.

The closing of restaurants and bars affected 22,000 restaurants across the state and 500,000 workers.[24] On March 20 a group of Cincinnati restaurateurs called on the federal government to provide a $225 billion bailout to the US restaurant industry.[25]

On sports

Most of state's sports teams were affected. Several leagues began postponing or suspending their seasons starting 12 March. Major League Baseball cancelled the remainder of spring training on that date, and on March 16, they announced that the season will be postponed indefinitely, after the recommendations from the CDC to restrict events of more than 50 people for the next eight weeks, affecting the Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds.[26] Also on March 12, the National Basketball Association announced the season would be suspended for 30 days, affecting the Cleveland Cavaliers.[27] In the National Hockey League, the season was suspended for an indefinite amount of time, affecting the Columbus Blue Jackets.[28]

In college sports, the National Collegiate Athletic Association cancelled all winter and spring tournaments, most notably the Division I men's and women's basketball tournaments, affecting colleges and universities statewide.[29] On March 16, the National Junior College Athletic Association also canceled the remainder of the winter seasons as well as the spring seasons.[30]

The Summit Motorsports Park announced they would ignore the stay at home order on April 16, and reopen for the 2020 season.[31][32] At a panel held at the Ohio House of Representatives, the owner of the park testified his beliefs that the shutdown of businesses was more for political reasons than for health reasons, and that there was a nationwide mandate to mark every fatality in the United States of America as being caused by COVID-19.[33][34]

On May 20, the Eldora Speedway owned by Tony Stewart, announced one of its largest events of the season would be rescheduled to June 2021 in accordance with the ongoing restrictions on mass gatherings and spectator sports at large venues. [35] A decision on the dirt track's other major events was not announced.

On public transportation
COTA buses notify riders to board using rear doors only

In early March, as the pandemic began affecting Columbus, the city's public transit ridership began dropping, approximately 40 percent. Its public transit agency COTA began by introducing thorough cleaning measures, followed by reducing several rush hour services on March 17. On March 19, it suspended fare collection, making all rides temporarily free, and required passengers to board and depart buses from the rear doors. On the same day, it also modified all rush hour lines, and suspended its AirConnect and Night Owl services. On March 20, the agency recommended only using its services for essential travel; two days later it shut down several rush hour services and reduced frequencies of nine crosstown lines. On March 24, it stopped all rush hour services until further notice.[36] On March 26, the agency began "dynamic service" to pick up customers left at bus stops by too-full buses; the agency's current policy is for a maximum of 20 passengers per bus.[37]

By April 11, the Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority began requiring riders to wear face coverings.[38]

On prisons
Marion Correctional Institution
Elkton Federal Prison

On April 8, the National Guard arrived at Elkton Federal Prison in Columbiana County to assist the medical staff when a large number of prisoners became ill with the virus.[39] On April 18, the National Guard and Highway Patrol arrived at the state prison in Marion county to assist with "mission critical functions" after infections of correctional workers and prisoners.[40] By April 19, over 1800 prisoners at Marion Correctional Institution, approximately 3/4ths of the population, plus 100 staff had tested positive.[41] Overall the prison system had almost 2500 cases by April 19, representing almost a fifth of Ohio's cases.[41] On April 20 Acton said the prison testing results were indicating that as many as 70% of cases may be asymptomatic.[42]

On April 22, the Marion County prison was the top hotspot for the virus in the country, and the Pickaway Correctional Institution was second ranked. Marion County was first in cases per capita in the nation, while Pickaway County was fourth.[43] The Ohio prison system is designed to hold about 35,000 inmates, but held about 49,000 in April, 2020.[44]

On April 22, federal judge James S. Gwin ordered Elkton prison to identify vulnerable inmates and transfer them from the facility. He ordered officials to "evaluate each subclass member's eligibility for transfer out of Elkton through any means, including but not limited to compassionate release, parole or community supervision, transfer furlough or non-transfer furlough within two weeks." He noted “with the shockingly limited available testing and the inability to distance inmates, COVID-19 is going to continue to spread, not only among the inmate population, but also among the staff." He condemned the Federal Department of Corrections, asking "Why has the Justice Department allocated Elkton an entirely insignificant number of tests while Ohio has been able to pull off mass testing across not only Marion, but at multiple institutions?"[45]

On May 19, Gwin ordered federal prison officials to begin the process of releasing eligible inmates at Elkton into home confinement for health and safety reasons. He said that “by thumbing their nose at their authority to authorize home confinement, (prison officials) threaten staff and they threaten low security inmates.” By that date, nine inmates had died from COVID-19. He ordered the release of 837 medically-vulnerable prisoners, (those 65+ or with pre-existing conditions), to home confinement, compassionate release, or to provide detailed reasons for denial. He also chided the prison for slow progress in testing, noting that "despite the obvious need for rapid implementation for mass testing across the entire institution, they are only conducting tests on Mondays and Tuesdays."[46]

References
  1. Rowland, Darrel (5 April 2020). "Ohio stance on abortion during coronavirus crisis made clear in court filing". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  2. Tobias, Andrew J. (30 March 2020). "Federal judge blocks Ohio from using coronavirus health order to restrict abortions". Cleveland.com. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  3. Gold, Hannah (7 April 2020). "Every State That's Tried to Ban Abortion Over the Coronavirus". The Cut. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  4. Ingles, Jo (6 April 2020). "Court Refuses To Overrule Ruling That Stops Ohio From Closing Abortion Clinics". Statehouse News Bureau.
  5. "Coronavirus Live Updates". NPR.org. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  6. April 7, 2020 – #COVID19 Update with Governor Mike DeWine, retrieved 2020-04-08
  7. "Ohio asks universities to go to remote learning; wants limits on sports due to coronavirus". Cincinnati.com. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
  8. "All BGSU students urged to leave; most faculty, staff will work remotely". Sentinel-Tribune. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  9. "CAPITAL UNIVERSITY UPDATE: COVID-19". Capital University. 10 March 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  10. Bamforth, Emily (10 March 2020). "Case Western Reserve University moves classes online to protect from coronavirus, encourages students to stay home". cleveland. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  11. Newpoff, Laura (March 21, 2020). "Covid-19 updates from Columbus region colleges and universities". columbusmonthly.com.
  12. "Coronavirus in Ohio: Governor orders schools to take extended spring breaks starting Monday". NBC4 WCMH-TV. 12 March 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  13. March 30, 2020 – #COVID19 Update with Governor Mike DeWine, retrieved 2020-03-30
  14. Charles Woodman. "Ohio K-12 Students Will Not Return To Class This School Year". News.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
  15. "Coronavirus in Ohio update: 21,576 cases, 1,225 deaths reported". nbc4i.com. May 6, 2020.
  16. "Coronavirus updates in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati". The Catholic Telegraph. Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati. March 17, 2020. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
  17. Schnurr, Dennis Marion; Binzer, Joseph R.; Brennan, Rober J.; Murry, George V.; Binzer, Joseph R.; Oleksiak, Donald P.; Thomas, Daniel Edward (March 16, 2020). "Catholic Bishops of Ohio Suspend All Publicly Celebrated Masses/Liturgies" (PDF) (Press release). Catholic Conference of Ohio. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
  18. Kilpatrick, Mary (16 March 2020). "Ohio Catholic bishops cancel Mass through Easter". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  19. Schnurr, Dennis Marion; Brennan, Robert J.; Monforton, Jeffrey M.; Monforton, Jeffrey M.; Murry, George V.; Oleksiak, Donald P.; Thomas, Daniel E.; Botean, J. Michael; Danylo, Bohdan J.; Lach, Milan (April 29, 2020). "Catholic Bishops of Ohio Extend Suspension of All Publicly Celebrated Masses/Liturgies Through May 29, 2020" (PDF) (Press release). Catholic Conference of Ohio. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  20. Schnurr, Dennis Marion (May 8, 2020). "Archbishop". Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
  21. "Westerville church offering 'drive in' service". WBNS-10TV Columbus, Ohio | Columbus News, Weather & Sports. 22 March 2020. Archived from the original on March 22, 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  22. "Ohio bishops make recommendations for Catholics, Methodists". The Vindicator. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  23. Williamson, Elizabeth (2020-04-09). "In Ohio, the Amish Take On the Coronavirus". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
  24. Knapp, Amy L. "Coronavirus in Ohio | Local restaurants react to state ban". The Repository. Retrieved 2020-03-22.
  25. Brownfield, Andy (20 March 2020). "Cincinnati restaurants ask feds for coronavirus bailout". login.research.cincinnatilibrary.org. Retrieved 2020-03-22.
  26. Feinsand, Mark (16 March 2020). "Opening of regular season to be pushed back". MLB.com. Archived from the original on 17 March 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  27. "Silver: NBA hiatus likely to last 'at least' 30 days". ESPN.com. 12 March 2020. Archived from the original on 13 March 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  28. NHL statement on coronavirus Archived 14 March 2020 at the Wayback Machine NHL, 12 March 2020
  29. NCAA cancels remaining winter and spring championships Archived 12 March 2020 at the Wayback Machine NCAA, 12 March 2020
  30. NJCAA cancels spring sports, basketball nationals amid coronavirus outbreak Archived 17 March 2020 at the Wayback Machine MLive.com, 16 March 2020
  31. "'We are starving': Summit Motorsports Park says they're opening for the 2020 season no matter what". WKYC. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  32. "'We are starving': Summit Motorsports Park says they're opening for the 2020 season no matter what". WTOL. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  33. Rowland, Darrel. "Coronavirus is a plot to threaten Trump re-election, Ohio business owner testifies". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  34. "Coronavirus is a plot to threaten Trump re-election, Ohio business owner testifies". Cincinnati.com. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  35. "Eldora Speedway moves its Dirt Late Model Dream to 2021 - NBC Sports". MotorSportsTalk | NBC Sports. 2020-05-20. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
  36. "Major Service Change Announcements". Central Ohio Transit Authority. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  37. "For Essential Travel, COTA and CoGo Are Still Available (But Scooters Aren't)". Columbus Underground. March 26, 2020. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
  38. "On first day of TARTA face-covering mandate, most readily comply". Toledo Blade. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  39. Ricciutti, Gerry (2020-04-08). "Ohio National Guard arrives to help sick Elkton inmates". WKBN. Retrieved 2020-04-18.
  40. "National Guard called to Marion prison as county coronavirus cases near 1,000". Marion Star. 2020-04-18. Retrieved 2020-04-18.
  41. Cooley, Patrick. "Coronavirus in Ohio: More than 1,800 inmates at Marion Correctional test positive". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
  42. "Ohio Channel April 20 Press conference". Facebook. 20 April 2020. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
  43. Kandisky, Catherine (2020-04-22). "Coronavirus surges at Pickaway prison, now No. 2 hot spot in nation – behind Marion prison". Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
  44. Stewart, Chris; Bischoff, Laura (2020-04-20). "Coronavirus in Ohio prisons: For Hamilton woman, 'The stress … is horrible'". Journal-News. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
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