Ohio to lift health orders June 2, offer vaccine incentives

Ohio Gov. Mike Dewine delivered a statewide address on Wednesday night when he announced it’s time to end the coronavirus health orders.

“It’s been a year,” he said in his remarks. “You’ve followed the protocols. You’ve done what we’ve asked. You’ve bravely fought this virus. And now, our cases are down, and we have a tested and proven weapon in the vaccine that all Ohioans 12 and over can utilize.”

Dewine went on to state that the Ohio Department of Health will remove all pandemic health orders, except those for nursing homes and assisted living facilities, on June 2.

This will give anyone not vaccinated time to get the oneshot Johnson and Johnson vaccine or the first dose of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines and be “well on the way to immunity,” he said in his May 12 address that was on television and transcribed on Twitter.

With that in mind, Dewine announced incentives, including $1 million prizes plus free scholarships.

On May 26, the state plans to announce a winner of a separate drawing for adults who have received at least their first dose of the vaccine. “This announcement will occur each Wednesday for five weeks, and the winner each Wednesday will receive $1 million,” Dewine announced. According to his announcement: * The pool of names for the drawing will come from the Ohio Secretary of State’s publicly available voter registration database in addition to a webpage for people to sign up for the drawings if they are not in a database the state is using.

* To be eligible to win, a person must be at least 18 on the day of the drawing, be an Ohio resident and be vaccinated before the drawing.

* The money is to come from existing federal Coronavirus Relief Funds with the Ohio Department of Health serving as the drawings’ sponsoring agency and the Ohio Lottery conducting them.

Further details are to follow on what is being called “Ohio Vax-amillion”

“I know that some may say, ‘Dewine, you’re crazy. This million-dollar drawing idea of yours is a waste of money,” ” he said in his remarks. “But truly, the real waste at this point in the pandemic -- when the vaccine is readily available to anyone who wants it -- is a life lost to COVID19.”

In addition, Dewine announced that on May 18, an electronic portal will open for young people who have been vaccinated to be able to register for scholarships.

“We will do this every Wednesday, for five straight Wednesdays -- each time randomly selecting one student to receive the full, four-year scholarship,” he announced.

In announcing the upcoming lifting of health orders, Dewine said that action does not mean the virus is gone.

“It does not mean we are all safe,” he said. “Each Ohio citizen will make their own decisions about wearing a mask and social distancing -- and when, for them, that’s appropriate.”

Ohio businesses and schools, as well, will make their own decisions about how to best keep their customers, employees and students safe, Dewine stated.

“Lifting these health orders will not prevent a business from imposing its own requirements,” he said.

Based on what’s happened in other states, “We expect that many stores or businesses may require social distancing and masking,” Dewine stated.

The number of Ohioans who get the vaccine will determine what the state’s future looks like, particularly this coming winter, according to the text of his speech.

After her disappearance, family had spoken about circumstances involving Davis’ disappearance. Lisa Davis said that her sister and Mack had broken up about eight months prior to her disappearance.

Melinda Davis had gone to Mack’s Mansfield location on Feb. 25 to pick up some belongings she had been looking to retrieve for some time and had notified a friend in advance of the plan, Lisa Davis said. Later in the morning, Melinda Davis did not arrive for a planned breakfast with another relative at a Denny’s restaurant in the Mansfield area, Lisa Davis said. Police

“Everyone has a stake in more Ohioans getting vaccinated,” he said.

Earlier in his speech, Dewine recapped events starting from the pandemic’s start in March 2020 to the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines earlier this year.

“In March of 2020, we faced tremendous unknowns as the first Coronavirus case was confirmed in our state,” he said. “We didn’t know how quickly it would spread. We didn’t know the best way to test for it or how to treat it. We didn’t know if it would over-run our healthcare system.”

In Shelby as of May 12, 2021, 36 people had died during the coronavirus pandemic. Statewide, 19,441 deaths are reported along with 1,087,182 overall cases.

On Wednesday, Dewine reported that coronavirus cases are dropping in Ohio.

“Today, moving

we’re rapidly were then notified, leading to the search for Melinda Davis.

While en route to Mack’s residence in Mansfield, Davis called a friend and stated, “If you don’t hear from me, call the police,” according to a statement of facts from the Richland County Prosecutor’s Office, a document filed with the municipal court.

The case started with the Shelby police, which was the first notified of Davis’ disappearance.extensive searches were conducted for Davis and rewards offered.

Check the Shelby Daily Globe and shelbydailyglobe.com for updates on the Mack indictment and other developments.

toward our goal of getting down to an average of 50 cases per 100,000 over a two-week period,” Dewine stated. “In December, that number topped more than 800. 4 weeks ago, it was 200. 2 weeks ago, it was 155. And today, it is 123.”

Fewer people also are hospitalized in Ohio.

“In fact, we have seen more than a 75 percent drop in our COVID-19 hospitalization count since we got the vaccine,” Dewine stated. “On January 10th, we had over 4,200 Ohio citizens in our hospitals for COVID. Today, that number is down to 964.”

Dewine also focused on COVID19 in children and the importance of vaccines for those currently eligible, ages 12 and older.

“These vaccines cannot come too soon for our children,” he said, citing information from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Children’s

Hospital Association showing that cases in children represented more than 22 percent of all new COVID cases.

Dewine later said that the state now has an abundance of the vaccine and that every effort must be made “to make it available and accessible to every Ohioan who wants it.”

“Those who are not vaccinated remain prey to the virus,” he said near the end of his speech. “We hope for a good summer, but we also have to be able to get through the dark days of winter safely. To do that, we need a much higher percentage of Ohioans to be vaccinated.”

Dewine said in his concluding remarks: “This is our time -and vaccines are our opportunity. Ohio -- let’s do this. Let’s get it done. Let’s get everyone vaccinated. Because we are Ohioans. We are Buckeyes. We are strong. And we will finish the job.”