Dr. Acton calls Koester a ‘hot spot’
Ohio order limiting adult day services facilities takes effect.
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A second death is under investigation at a Miami County nursing home where COVID-19 has spread, county health officials said on Saturday.
The state also ordered on Saturday that adult day services facilities across Ohio to close and told businesses they wouldn’t have to pay the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation for three months, saving them $200 million statewide.
It has not been determined if either resident of Koester Pavilion who died had the coronavirus, as both were still awaiting test results.
Miami County Health Commissioner Dennis Propes said the health district hopes to receive the test results soon. He also offered his condolences to the families of those who died.
“The COVID-19 outbreak at Koester Pavilion is a challenging time for everyone,” Propes said. “We have received report that
Like many seniors in nursing homes cut off from family members and friends, John Juergens (left) said his dad Carl Juergens (right) is struggling. “I was just talking to him. He is going to tell people he is doing fine, but I know he is not,” John said.
Eileen Shoemaker and her younger sister, Marlene Freund, 87, are pictured on Eileen’s 99th birthday last March. Her 100th birthday was March 15, and the family had planned a much-anticipated big bash, but it had to be canceled.
a second Koester resident that had been hospitalized and tested for COVID-19 has also died. My deepest condolences go out to the families during this extremely difficulty time.”
Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton called the outbreak at Koester a “hot spot” during the governor’s briefing on Saturday.
Sixteen residents of Koester, 24 staff mem- bers and two visitors have shown symptoms of COVID19, according to the Miami Co u nty health district. Twelve of those cases are presumed positive and five are currently hospitalized.
The community can expect to see an increase in posi- tive cases as more people are tested, Miami County Public Health officials said.
During Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s Saturday news conference, he and Acton announced that adult day services for people with peo
Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted (left, background), Gov. Mike DeWine and Ohio Department of Health director Dr. Amy Acton leave their coronavirus news conference Saturday in Columbus.
ple with developmental disabilities would close.
“The i ndividuals who I’m talking about today are people with disabilities who receive care every single day,” DeWine said. “Our concern for them, as it has been for everyone, is that they congregate in large numbers. That is not good. That is a danger for them.”
Those who need assistance through the facilities will continue to receive care
through in-home services, DeWine said, and the state has planned provisions for those people.
In order to reserve medi- cal resources to aid patients fighting the coronavirus, the state ordered earlier this week that hospitals postpone elective procedures and surgeries. Since then, Ohioans have been debating what procedures are elec- tive, including abortions.
On Friday, Ohio Right to
Life delivered a letter to the President of Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio that said her organization is violating Ohio’s State of Emergency Health Order that requires nonessential surgical procedures to be postponed.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost sent a letter to the Women’s Med Center in Dayton on Friday, ordering the center to stop surgical abor- tions that “can be delayed without undue risk to the current or future health of a patient.”
The med center couldn’t be reached for comment Saturday.
The Ohio Democratic Women’s Legislative Caucus said in a statement that abortion is “an essential, time-sensitive, legal medi- cal procedure,” and postponing it even a few days is unconstitutional.
Ohio Right to Life thanked Yost for his actions and said in a statement that surgical abortions during the coronavirus outbreak put “the health and safety of all Ohioans in danger.”
Acton addressed questions regarding surgical abortions at Saturday’spress conference.
“The spirit of non-elective surgeries has to do with our absolute extreme shortage of the (personal protective equipment),” Actonsaid. “I want to say one thing, I am the doctor for 11.7 million people and all women, no matter where they fall on this, and I think that’s very important. We cannot allow the politics of things to get in the way of doing what we have to do in the state of an emergency.”
There are 247 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Ohio as of Saturday, the Ohio Department of Health reported. There have been three deaths reported due to coronavirus. The deaths were in Cuyahoga, Erie and Lucas counties.
Lt. Governor John Husted said that the Ohio Bureau of workers compensation will allow businesses to forgo payments to the program for March, April and May.
Payments will be deferred until June 1. This decision will leave $200 million in the economy, he said.
DeWine encouraged people to ask themselves to do anything within their power to protect themselves and those around them.
“Each night when I go to bed, I ask myself, ‘Did I do everything I could?’ ” he said. “I would ask you to ask yourselves the same thing.”
DeWine ended his daily briefing by encouraging people to fly American flags during the pandemic to show their patriotism in the war against the coronavirus.
“What we do now, what we do not do now, will really determine how many Ohioans die. This is an absolutely critical time,” DeWine said. “We must act if we have been invaded by an enemy. Because in truth, we really have been. We must not do anything to help the enemy.”