Schedule set for voting lawsuit; patients include 2-year-old

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio Supreme Court set a speedy schedule to hear an elections lawsuit filed by the state’s Democratic Party, while the state said it has received nearly 78,000 unemployment applications in just three days. A look at coronavirus-related developments in Ohio on Wednesday:

___

CASES

The state has more than 65 confirmed cases of the virus, with no reported deaths. Those include a 2-year-old boy in central Ohio and two Ohio State University employees. Drive-up testing was being offered by hospitals in Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Dayton, among other cities.

For most people, the virus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, or death. The vast majority of people recover.

___

ELECTIONS

The Ohio Supreme Court wants all arguments and counterarguments filed by March 27 in a lawsuit filed by the state’s Democratic Party challenging the decision by Secretary of State Frank LaRose to move the primary to June 2. No time extensions will be granted. The Bernie Sanders campaign has not taken a position on Ohio Democrats’ push for all-mail voting, said state Rep. Mike Skindell, a state co-chair.

___

JOBS

Amazon announced it would hire 4,600 in Ohio, even as Honda, which has 15,000 Ohio employees and is the state’s largest manufacturer, said it will suspend all North American production beginning next week. The city of Akron furloughed 1,800 workers deemed “nonessential,” giving them the option to take personal leave or file for unemployment.

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services said it had received 77,817 unemployment insurance benefit applications online in the past three days, compared to 2,900 during the same three days last week. Gov. Mike DeWine asked the U.S. Small Business Administration to allow businesses and nonprofits to apply for low-interest loans of up to $2 million that are being made available because of the coronavirus’ impact on the economy.

___

COURTS

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost issued a legal opinion saying judges can suspend jury trials over coronavirus concerns.

___

The Associated Press receives support for health and science coverage from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Associated Press writers Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus, John Seewer in Toledo and Mark Gillispie in Cleveland contributed to this report.