Governor DeWine Press Conference Summary for Tuesday, June 16

Below are the updates from yesterday’s press conference with Governor DeWine and Lt. Governor Husted. Governor DeWine will hold a press conference today (6/17) at 2:00 PM on law enforcement reforms, and the next COVID-related press conference will be on Thursday (6/18).  

Here’s the news from Tuesday: 

• Ohio’s COVID-19 case data is below:
• 38,911 confirmed cases
• 3,099 probable cases  
• 42,010 total cases
• 7,007 hospitalizations
• 2,362 confirmed deaths
• 235 probable deaths
• 2,597 total deaths
• 1,784 ICU admissions
• More data is available on the COVID-19 Dashboard HERE. 

• More than 65,000 children a day are expected to take part in Ohio's Summer Food Service Program. With more than 1,500 sites across the state, many of the programs have set up new guidelines for distributing food to kids. Additional information can be found at education.ohio.gov/kidseat or by calling 866-3-HUNGRY.    

• Governor DeWine released the latest basic reproduction number or R0 (pronounced “R naught”) for eight regions of Ohio. The R0 represents the number of people, on average, that a person will spread a disease to. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that COVID-19's R0, without interventions, to be 2.5. With Ohio's interventions, the R0 for the state measured at 0.87 on June 7. Ohio is beginning to see the R0 plateau in Region 7 and 8.  An updated R0 regional map is attached. 

• Governor DeWine announced additional pop-up testing sites will be available throughout the state this week. Testing began this morning at CityLink Center in Cincinnati and will also be available on Thursday and Friday from 10:00am until 3:00pm. Testing will resume at the CityLink Center next Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Tomorrow testing will be available at the Centerpoint Health Community Building Institute in Middletown, Ohio, from 10:00am to 2:00pm.  Additional temporary pop-up testing locations will be in Elyria, Portsmouth, Xenia, and other locations. Flyers are attached and more information on pop-up sites can be found at coronavirus.ohio.gov.
  • Xenia Ohio Pop Up Testing Sites
  • Northeast Ohio Pop Up Testing Sites
  • Southern Ohio Pop Up Testing Sites  

• Governor DeWine announced that Ohio will borrow money to meet its unemployment obligation during the COVID-19 pandemic. The state requested $3.1 billion in borrowing authority from the U.S. Department of Labor. This is not an unprecedented situation, Ohio borrowed more than $3.3 billion during the last recession and joins states such as California and Texas in borrowing money during this crisis.  

• Governor DeWine announced $1 million in grant funding to Ohio’s local Family and Children First Councils (FCFC). Local FCFC’s serve some for Ohio’s must vulnerable children and often need services from many different agencies. These grant dollars will help local FCFC’s ensure that children can continue to connect with their loved ones and access essential medical services. 

• Governor DeWine reminded houses of worship to continue utilizing the best practices when resuming in-person services. While these are not requirements, they are best practices that include having families sit socially-distant from other families; encouraging members to wear face coverings; and eliminating the touching of common surfaces, such as the collection basket and hymnals, as much as possible. Attached is Responsible RestartOhio guidance for religious services.  

• Lt. Governor Husted announced that the Office of Budget and Management (OBM) and InnovateOhio have identified $950,027 in savings to state taxpayers through data analytics applied to state agency spending ledgers. These are actual taxpayer dollars recovered, not just potential savings identified. The total dollar amount of duplicate payments identified totals $1,008,876, leaving $58,849 still in the process of being recovered. The duplicate payments tool was initially announced in November 2019.  

• Lt. Governor Husted also reminded Ohioans to be on alert for individuals that may want to take advantage of them with potential fraudulent cures, work-from-home offers, and messages asking for personal information.  He also warned Ohioans of fraudulent unemployment claims. For resources on how to protect your personal information and protect yourself from fraud, visit coronavirus.ohio.gov or the Ohio Department of Commerce, or the Ohio Department of Insurance websites.  If you think you have been a victim of fraud contact the Ohio Attorney General office. 

• Attached is the Director's Order that reopens county fairs and animal exhibitions, with exceptions. 

• 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.