Governor DeWine Press Conference Summary for December 14, 2020

Below are the updates from Governor DeWine’s press conference. The next press conference is currently scheduled for Thursday, December 17^th at 2:00 PM.   

Here’s the news from Monday: 

• Ohio’s COVID-19 case data is below:
• 522,467 confirmed cases
• 48,135 probable cases  
• 570,602 total cases
• 32,264 hospitalizations
• 6,972 confirmed deaths
• 579 probable deaths
• 7,551 total deaths
• 5,209 ICU admissions
• More data is available on the COVID-19 Dashboard HERE.

• Governor DeWine announced today that the first COVID-19 vaccinations have been administered in Ohio. Shipments of 975 doses were delivered this morning to both The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus and UC Health in Cincinnati. Several healthcare workers and personnel who are routinely involved with the care of COVID-19 patients immediately received vaccinations. Vaccine shipments will be delivered to eight additional hospitals in Ohio tomorrow. 

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has invited Ohio to participate in an early scaled launch of vaccinations in nursing homes. Ohio will begin providing vaccinations in five to ten nursing homes starting this Friday, December 18. Ohio had previously been scheduled to start its nursing home vaccination program in partnership with pharmacy providers on Monday, December 21. 

• Governor DeWine announced that Ohio will launch a new COVID-19 Vaccination Dashboard in the coming days at coronavirus.ohio.gov. The dashboard will list the number of people vaccinated in Ohio and will be sortable by demographic and by county. 

• Attached is an update from the COVID-19 Vaccine Preparedness Office, and the slides that Governor DeWine used during today’s press conference. 

• 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.