06/09/2020

2020-06-09 OH Gov. DeWine COVID-19 Update

Updated daily at 2 p.m. - https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/covid-19/ 

New orders/actions

• New initiatives by the Office of Criminal Justice Services in the Dept. of Public Safety will be ramping up efforts to get law enforcement agencies as certified as meeting minimum standards and diversifying recruitment for hiring.

Governor DeWine opened by encouraging the more than 400 police law enforcement agencies, more than half of the state’s agencies, to pursue state certification in the best practices developed by the Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board.  The Collaborative, a 12-person panel established in 2015, developed state standards for things like use of force including use of deadly force and agency employee recruitment and hiring that can help guide law enforcement agencies in Ohio.  The Governor said he has charged the Office of Criminal Justice Services, Dept. of Public Safety, to reach out to those agencies to understand why they haven’t complied and help them achieve certification.  He also is asking the Collaborative to develop a new standard to address the response to mass protests – when do tactics become excessive, protecting media, what to do when crowds won’t disperse, etc.   The list of agencies that are currently certified will be made available on the website of the Ohio Department of Public Safety - https://www.ocjs.ohio.gov/ohiocollaborative/.

He also announced that a new office of law enforcement recruitment will be established in the Office of Criminal Justice Services to address recruiting a diverse workforce.  The new office will work with mayors, sheriffs and chiefs of police to increase diverse hiring to have departments better reflect the communities they serve.  Governor DeWine said these are just the first round of initiatives – they are things he could do quickly without legislation.  He pledged to work with the legislature, the law enforcement community and the larger community to work on additional initiatives.

Governor DeWine also provided a short update on PPE in the state.  He said over 30 million pieces of PPE have been distributed by State – with the PPE coming from donations, FEMA, state agency purchases and JobsOhio purchases.  Of the 30 million pieces, 27.8 million were sent to county Emergency Management Agencies for local distribution. The Governor added that the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation distribution to employers in the state fund, which was announced on May 19, has distributed 1.5 million face coverings thus far.  The PPE response is a work in progress and the state is also looking at long term solutions to continuing supply chain issue.  On that front, Governor DeWine announced that Akron-based GoJo, makers of Purell hand sanitizers, are expanding production in Navarre and Maple Heights, which will bring 200 new jobs to the state.

Dr. Susan Kolertar, the Director of the Division of Infectious Disease at OSU, joined the press conference to provide additional context to the recent World Health Organization declaration that it is rare that asymptomatic individuals pass the disease to other people.  Dr. Kolertar stressed that the scientific community continues to learn new things about the virus every day and that we must continue to act as if transmission rates are high.  Also, that there is a distinction between asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic individuals.  Note, the World Health Organization convened a special news conference Tuesday to walk back its comments and clarify its position on whether people without symptoms are widely spreading the new coronavirus, saying much remains unknown about asymptomatic transmission.  But the comment from Monday had already spread widely and been seized upon to bolster arguments that people do not need to wear masks or maintain social distancing precautions.  Washington Post 

In response to questioning about whether Ohio’s numbers are increasing post-opening, the Governor did say that the state’s R0, the rate of infection, is starting to increase.  He noted that those numbers and the hospitalization numbers lag and are about two weeks behind.  He said he will bring in more information on this point during Thursday’s press conference. 

Dr. Acton and Lt. Governor Husted did not attend today’s press conference.

Upcoming Calfee events

Roundtable Discussion with Calfee and Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague; Thursday, June 11, 9:00-9:30 am EST - RSVP here

An Analysis of Ohio's COVID-19 Immunity Legislation with Calfee and Ohio Senator John Eklund; Monday, June 15, 12-12:30 pm EST - RSVP here

If you missed a prior webinar and would like to catch up, please visit: Calfee Webinars

Other items of note

• State tax receipts through the first 11 months of the fiscal year are in a more than a $1 billion hole after intake missed May estimates by $271.3 million.  The total tax receipts of about $1.82 billion for the month were down 13% compared to what analysts expected last year when the biennial budget was enacted, the Office of Budget and Management reported Monday. Still, it was a better performance than April's miss of 35.3%, or $866.5 million.   Heading into the final month of Fiscal Year 2020, total tax receipts were below what was anticipated by $1.05 billion, or 4.9%, according to OBM's preliminary revenue data. 
• There have been more than 7.1 million cases of covid-19 officially reported worldwide, including more than 405,000 fatalities, though the totals are likely higher. Nearly 2 million cases have been reported in the United States, with more than 109,000 of those fatal.
• U.S. retailers will shutter 20,000 to 25,000 stores this year, according to projections released Tuesday by Coresight Research, with as much as 60 percent of those closures occurring in malls. That marks a sharp increase from the 15,000 forecast earlier this year.  For many brands, various phases of “reopening” won’t come soon enough. J. Crew, Neiman Marcus, J.C. Penney, Tuesday Morning and Stage Stores — which operates hundreds of Palais Royal, Bealls and Goody’s locations — have all filed for bankruptcy. Brooks Brothers is in talks with banks about financing for a possible bankruptcy that could come as soon as next month. And Tailored Brands, which owns Men’s Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank, is considering the same fate.  Washington Post

Ohio COVID-19 Data Curves

The following are graphic representations of reported cases, hospitalizations, ICU admissions and deaths using Ohio Department of Health data and expanded CDC definitions.

Saturday – 455,823 tested – 3.90% of the population – 12,290 additional tests since Friday

Sunday – 466,279 tested – 3.99% of the population – 10,456 additional tests since Saturday

Monday – 473,988 tested – 4.05% of the population – 7,709 additional tests since Sunday

Tuesday – 487,583 tested – 4.17% of the population – 13,595 additional tests since Monday

Note: For an archive of all COVID-19 related First Alerts from Calfee, which are separate from these emails and focused on specific business topics, please visit the Calfee COVID-19 Resource Center: https://www.calfee.com/covid-19-resource-center

Key websites

General state updates - https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/covid-19/

Office of Small Business Relief - https://businesshelp.ohio.gov/ 

Ohio Manufacturing Alliance to Fight COVID-19 - https://repurposingproject.com/ 

Unemployment compensation - http://jfs.ohio.gov/ouio/CoronavirusAndUI.stm

Ohio benefits application - https://benefits.ohio.gov/

SharedWork Ohio - http://jfs.ohio.gov/ouio/SharedWorkOhio/

Job openings - https://jobseeker.ohiomeansjobs.monster.com/home.aspx