COVID-19 cases fall as Dewine watches variant
Ohio Governor Mike Dewine and his wife, Fran, speak with Mike Chew after he received his COVID-19 vaccine at the Shelby City Health Department’s vaccine clinic on Tuesday afternoon.
Ohio’s coronavirus case rate continues to trend down, Gov. Mike Dewine reported on Thursday.
“Ten counties are dropping a level this week,” he said at his televised briefing and on Twitter. “Six counties moved from red to orange as their cases per capita dropped below 100 over two weeks. There also are four counties moving from orange to yellow because their cases per capita dropped to below 50.”
Richland County remains at red in Ohio’s color-coded coronavirus health advisory system. “Red” represents very high exposure and spread of COVID-19.
Statewide, Ohio reported 143.8 new cases per 100,000 residents from March 3-March 16. Last week, it was 155 cases per 100,000. The week prior to that, March 4, it was 179.6 cases per 100,000.
On March 4 in a statewide address, Dewine announced that all health orders will be lifted when Ohio reaches 50 cases per 100,000 people for two weeks.
“As numbers continue to improve, it’s important to continue following safety protocols like wearing your mask and social distancing,” Dewine reminded people on Thursday.
At the briefing, Dewine reminded Ohioans that on Friday, March 19, Ohio is opening COVID-19 vaccine eligibility for those 40 and older and those who have cancer, chronic kidney disease, COPD, heart
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is planning to send a combined 4 million doses of the Astrazeneca COVID19 vaccine to Mexico and Canada in its first export of shots, the White House said Thursday.
Press secretary Jen Psaki said the Biden administration is in the process of finalizing efforts to distribute 2.5 million doses to Mexico and 1.5 million to Canada as a “loan.” The details are still being worked out.
“Our first priority remains vaccinating the U.S. population,” Psaki said at the daily briefing. But she added that “ensuring our neighbors can contain the virus is a mission critical step, is mission critical to ending the pandemic.”
The Astrazeneca vaccine has not been authorized for use in the U.S. but has been by the World Health Organization. Tens of millions of doses have been stockpiled in the U.S. should it receive emergency use authorization, sparking an international outcry that lifesaving doses were being withheld when they could be used elsewhere.
Psaki said multiple nations have requested access to the U.S. vaccines, but she didn’t have anything to add on further distributions.
Mexican Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said via Twitter that Mexico was receiving the vaccine as a result of the conversation between President Joe Biden and President Andrés Manuel López Obrador earlier this month. “Good news!” he wrote.
“God bless America they are coming to our rescue,” said Ontario Premier Doug Ford, the leader of Canada’s most populous province. He thanked Biden for his willingness to share the vaccines.
“And once I get them I will call you a champion, but I need to get the delivery first, so thank you. I appreciate it. We’ve been waiting. That’s what true neighbors do. They help each other in a crisis,” he said. “We will take all the vaccines you can give us, so that’s fabulous news.”
The Biden administration has said that once U.S. citizens are vaccinated, the next step is ensuring Canada and Mexico are able to manage the pandemic so the borders can reopen.
Although Canada’s economy is tightly interconnected with the U.S., Washington hasn’t allowed any of the hundreds of millions of vaccine doses made in America to be exported until now, and Canada has had to turn to Europe and Asia.
The vaccine supply chain difficulties have forced Canada to extend the time between the first shot and the second by up to four months so that everyone can be protected faster with the primary dose. The hope is to get all adults at least one shot by the end of June.