• Appeals for FG help in Hamilton and Montgomery counties

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has approved nursing homes to begin outdoor visitation from Monday, July 20, 2020, stressing that “all safety standards are met.”

“When assessing their readiness to permit outdoor visitation, nursing homes should consider case status in community, case status in nursing home, staffing levels, access to adequate testing for residents/staff, personal protective equipment supplies and hospital capacity,” said Governor Mike DeWine at the Covid19 update.

“We are confident that our approach provides each facility the flexibility needed to assess their readiness to safely facilitate outdoor visitation — and to do so in a transparent way that keeps residents and families informed.”

“My job as Governor is to protect all Ohioans.  Part of that job means putting measures in place to keep people safe from COVID19.  It also means protecting those things that add value to life.  Balance has been and remains the operative word in our efforts.”

Governor DeWine disclosed that a call for assistance was made to Vice President Mike Pence and the White House concerning the increasing cases of covdi19 in Hamilton and Montgomery counties

“They told us they would give us additional help in these two communities.”

“At the end of May and into early June, Hamilton County was holding steady at an average of 30 cases per day per 100,000 population. As of this past week, the average new cases per day increased to approximately 100 cases per 100,000.”

“To make sure we have enough hospital and ICU beds to treat everyone who needs care we need the help of all Ohioans, especially those in Hamilton, Montgomery, and surrounding counties, to redouble their efforts to social distance, wear a mask in public, and wash hands.”

He said that “due to the delayed diagnosis, these numbers may continue to grow for this reporting period. By reviewing other healthcare indicators, we can see that this is not solely because of increased testing.”

“You may be wondering if the increased cases are simply because Ohio has worked so hard to ramp up our testing. Certainly, some is due to that, but not entirely. You have to look at positivity.”

According to Governor DeWine, “If the spread of this virus remained at a low level, more testing should show a lower positivity — there simply wouldn’t be as many cases to pick up with testing.”

“Instead, the creeping up of our positivity rate even as we are doing more testing means that we are likely picking up signs of broader community spread.”

Governor DeWine said that “last week was our first week of increasing COVID19 hospital utilization after over two months of decreasing utilization since late April. The number of standard hospital beds occupied by COVID-19+ patients peaked in late April/early May at about 1,000 and reached a low of 513 on 6/20.”

“COVID-specific hospital utilization is approaching levels not seen since the earlier peak of the pandemic in April.”