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Governor DeWine Press Conference Summary for Monday, December 7

Below are the updates from Governor DeWine and Lt. Governor Husted’s press conference. The next press conference is currently scheduled for Thursday, December 10th at 2:00 PM.  

Here’s the news from Monday: 

  • Ohio’s COVID-19 case data is below:
    • 458,993 confirmed cases
    • 25,304 probable cases  
    • 484,297 total cases
    • 29,569 hospitalizations
    • 6,544 confirmed deaths
    • 478 probable deaths
    • 7,022 total deaths
    • 4,943 ICU admissions
    • More data is available on the COVID-19 Dashboard HERE.
  • In the past 24 hours, Ohio reported 9,273 new coronavirus cases, the sixth highest count reported in one day since the pandemic. 336 new hospitalizations were reported and 40 new patients are in intensive care. An additional 63 people have died from COVID-19 in Ohio, surpassing 7,000 total deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.  
  • In August, the CDC changed the case definition of antigen testing to include case counts without additional verification. Ohio has continued to manually verify an epidemiological link, such as a known positive contact, with an antigen positive test result. Tomorrow, December 8, ODH will begin including antigen tests without an epidemiological link in the total case count. This will result in a one-day spike in reported cases from pending positive antigen cases. Not all pending cases will be translated into new cases.  Cases will be checked and duplicate records will be removed. Cases will also be assigned to their appropriate onset date. 
  • Today, Governor DeWine urged Congress to pass another COVID-19 relief package before leaving Washington for the holiday recess. You can view his entire statement in the attached press release.  
  • The Ohio Department of Education continues to report limited spread of COVID-19 in a classroom setting, but an increase of community spread from informal gatherings outside of school. The department also tracks how many districts are hosting in-person, hybrid, or remote learning. Governor DeWine talked about the current educational delivery model in Ohio which you can view in the slides from today. 
  • During today’s briefing, Governor DeWine was joined by two nurses who discussed their experiences treating patients with coronavirus. You can view their full remarks here
  • Lt. Governor Husted announced the launch of the DataOhio Portal, which delivers datasets and interactive visualizations to Ohioans.  This portal delivers unprecedented access through an innovative, data-sharing platform for state agencies and their partners. 
  • Governor DeWine and Lt. Governor Husted announced the approval of assistance for 16 projects set to create 4,183 new jobs and retain 1,051 jobs statewide. Collectively, the projects are expected to result in more than $240 million in new payroll and spur more than $864 million in investments across Ohio. More information is available in the attached press release 
  • 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.

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