Governor DeWine Press Conference Summary for Thursday, April 23

Below are the updates from yesterday’s press conference with Governor DeWine and Lt. Governor Husted. Today’s press conference is scheduled for 2:00 PM.  You can watch this on the Ohio Channel, Ohio Public TV (PBS stations), and other Columbus-based outlets.    

Here’s the news from Thursday: 

• Ohio’s COVID-19 case data is below:
• 14,142 confirmed cases
• 552 probable cases  
• 14,694 total cases
• 2,960 hospitalizations
• 618 confirmed deaths
• 38 probable deaths
• 656 total deaths
• 900 ICU admissions
• More data is available on the COVID-19 Dashboard HERE.  

• Governor DeWine invited Mark Weir, Ph.D., an assistant professor of Environmental Health at The Ohio State University, to discuss how health risks change as changes are made to the environment. He explained that minimizing the spread of the disease as Ohio begins the long process of reopening depends on personal and environmental controls. Personal precautions include interrupting the infection process by practicing good hand hygiene and wearing masks. 

• Attached are the slides that Dr. Weir referenced, and his full video presentation can be found on the Ohio Channel’s YouTube page HERE. 

• For the week ending April 18, 2020, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) reported 109,369 initial jobless claims to the U.S. Dept. of Labor. The number of initial jobless claims filed in Ohio over the last five weeks stands at 964,566. Over these last five weeks, ODJFS has distributed more than $926 million in unemployment compensation payments to more than 376,000 claimants.  Pursuant to an order from the U.S.  Department of Labor, Ohio will release unemployment numbers on a weekly basis as soon as the national report is released on Thursday. 

• Starting Friday, April 24, Ohioans who are unemployed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic but don’t qualify for regular unemployment benefits can begin pre-registering for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), a new federal program that covers many more categories of workers. To pre-register for PUA benefits, Ohioans should visit unemployment.ohio.gov and click on “Get Started Now.” 

• Ohioans can apply for unemployment benefits online 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at unemployment.ohio.gov. It is also possible to file by phone at 877-644-6562 or TTY at 888- 642-8203, Monday through Friday 7AM to 7PM, Saturday 9AM to 5PM, and Sunday 9AM to 1PM. Employers with questions should email UCTech@jfs.ohio.gov.  

As always, Coronavirus.Ohio.Gov and the Department of Health hotline, 1-833-4-ASK-ODH are great resources for those who have questions.