Ohio set to relax crowd restrictions
Capacity to rise as spring events near
With spring nearing, Ohio officials are moving to relax COVID-19 safety restrictions to permit school proms, graduations, weddings and other events to accommodate more people – but they still must remain masked and socially distanced.
The state plans to soon announce guidelines for indoor venues to permit people at 25% of capacity while outdoor settings, such as sports stadiums, will be allowed to admit crowds of 30% of capacity, Gov. Mike Dewine said Thursday.
Work continues on developing virus safety guidelines to permit festivals, fairs and parades, Dewine said, but the admission of more people to events still will be accompanied by a mask mandate and required social distancing.
Larger gatherings generally had been prohibited or more severely restricted as Ohio battled a virus pandemic that escalated to more than 10,000 new infections on several days in December before dropping more than 80% to current lower levels.
“We hope to loosen up and expand,” Dewine said.
“The whole goal is get back to where we want to be, to what our lives were before the pandemic.”
But, the governor cautioned, “we have to take a bridge” of precautions built on vaccinations and mask and social distancing until the state achieves herd immunity in which the spread of the virus can be choked off.
“I am not telling you this is ending, but what I am telling you is things are looking up,” Dewine said.
Acknowledging older Ohioans’ frustrations in not landing vaccination appointments and shots, Dewine said federal officials have informed the state that it will receive 91,000 first-week doses when Johnson & Johnson’s oneshot vaccine wins approval.
Doses in following weeks from J&J would drop, but the governor said he did not have numbers.
Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, medical director of the Ohio Department of Health, said the vaccine carries the advantage of requiring only one shot and storage in a simple refrigerator.
It is somewhat less effective than the existing two-shot vaccines for older, sick people, but the state is awaiting more information, he said.
Dewine also announced that some
Meijer and Walmart pharmacies will begin receiving vaccines along with more independent pharmacies.
He estimated 310,000 doses will be available next week, with up to 60,000 doses that had been dedicated to school employees to be freed up for inoculation of those age 65 and up and others currently eligible.
Meanwhile, state officials reported 2,409 new coronavirus infections on Thursday, with this week’s average of 2,020 daily cases through Thursday representing a 4% decline from last week to the lowest totals in more than four months.
One in 12 Ohioans has contracted coronavirus, with the pandemic infection total now reaching 962,404 people.
An additional 80 deaths were reported Thursday, raising the state’s COVID-19 toll to 17,125, with 93% of fatalities occurring among those age 60 and older. Another 163 virus patients were reported hospitalized on Thursday, with the patient census standing at 1,262, the fewest since late October.
Dewine credited the vaccination of older Ohioans and long-term care residents with prompting the downturn in hospital admissions.
The state reported another 30,743 vaccinations, raising the total to 1,530,823 or 13.1% of Ohio’s population of nearly 11.7 million.
A total of 772,126 people, of 6.6% of the population, has received second and final doses. Fifty-seven percent of 1.5-million-plus vaccine starter doses have been administered to those age 65 and older, the group most vulnerable to serious illness and death from COVID-19, with hundreds of thousands still awaiting appointments and inoculations.
The remainder of vaccinations have gone to health care workers, nursing home staff, teachers and school staff and other eligible recipients. rludlow@dispatch.com @Randyludlow
An additional 80 deaths were reported Thursday, raising the state’s COVID-19 toll to 17,125, with 93% of fatalities occurring among those age 60 and older.