Stopping the COVID-19 surge
As we start our third year of dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, many Greater Columbus businesses continue to struggle to keep their doors open and recruit and retain employees.
Far more alarming is the fact that doctors, nurses and other health officials, including Dr. Mysheika Roberts, Columbus Public Health commissioner, are increasingly worried about the latest surge in Greater Columbus sparked by the highly contagious omicron variant.
“These trends are placing a tremendous and dangerous strain on our hospitals, as well as our frontline workers who have been tirelessly working since the beginning of the pandemic,” Roberts said during a pre-christmas press conference about the uptick in COVID-19 infections locally.
Several hospitals have postponed elective surgeries and have been diverting incoming patients to other facilities because they, the original destination hospitals, are out of room.
Hospital officials say at least 80% of those hospitalized with COVID-19 are unvaccinated.
“I don’t know how else to explain this to people, but at some point, there will be no more elasticity in the hospital system to make space for people. We will be full,” Dr. Andrew Thomas, chief clinical officer at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, said at the recent Dispatch virtual townhall in the Columbus Conversation series. “If you come in with a heart attack, we’ll have to say, `Sorry, you might not do as well because your cousin or neighbor wasn’t vaccinated.’”
The politicization of the vaccine — some of which is egged on by Republican lawmakers and the COVID-19 deniers at the Statehouse — must be stopped or more lives and livelihoods will continue to be unnecessarily lost.
Improving police-community relations and tackling crime
The city hired Elaine Bryant as police chief in June on the heels of numerous incidents that drew public scrutiny, including the shootings of Andre Hill, an unarmed Black man, and Ma’khia Bryant, a 16-year-old girl in foster care.
Bryant, a former Detroit assistant police chief, has received praise for her community outreach and promise of cultural changes within the department, but the challenges she faces are great and will not go away overnight in a city experiencing record homicides.
Police say the city’s 200th homicide victim was Bobby Nesbitt.
As part of the city’s contract with the Fraternal Order of Police, as many as 100 members of the department’s officers at commander level or below who have 25 or more years of experience will take a one-time buyout of $200,000 each.
City officials recently announced plans to hold three police recruit classes in 2022 with the hopes of adding 170 new officers.
Columbus police response times for all calls has increased by nearly three minutes in the last two years, according to a recent analysis by the Columbus Dispatch.
None of this is acceptable in any community, let alone one that is flourishing like Columbus.
Building a community people can afford to live in
The real estate market is hot in Columbus and all indications are that it will continue grow this year and beyond.
The Mid-ohio Regional Planning Commission — central Ohio’s planning agency — projects that the 15-county area will grow to 3 million people by 2050. It is beyond time that the community ramped up conversations about where these new people will live and actions that will keep current residents here in safe, affordable homes.
A $150,000 house — a value deemed affordable housing in some circles — is out of reach for more than a third of people who currently call Greater Columbus home.
Thirty-six percent of households in metro Columbus earn less than $50,000 a year, according to U.S. Census Bureau. Another 32% make between $50,000 and $100,000.
The situation is not any easier when it comes to those looking for apartments. Renters — 39% of the households here — earn a mean wage of $16.99 an hour, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
Experts say the going rate for a onebedroom home is $825 to $1,065 a month and those units are at a scarcity.
The Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority is planning to build 500 housing units a year for the next five years. Mayor Andrew Ginther appointed Erin Prosser the city’s first assistant director of housing strategies in May and there are plans to examine the city’s zoning in a way that removes antiquated practices.
Those initiatives and programs to assist those struggling to remain in their homes are steps in the right direction, but not enough.
The affordable housing crisis is not just a city of Columbus issue. It is something that must be addressed regionally and swiftly.
The city of Columbus faces these and other challenges, and as we’ve proven in the past, there’s no obstacle we can’t overcome when we work tog
Editorials are The Dispatch Editorial Board’s fact-based assessment of issues of importance to the communities we serve. These are not the opinions of our reporting staff members, who strive for neutrality in their reporting.