Ohio logs more jobless claims in 2 weeks than in all of 2019

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The state human services agency reported more than 272,000 jobless claims for last week, and the attorney general sped up the placement of 300 new police recruits onto Ohio streets.

A look at coronavirus-related developments in Ohio on Thursday:

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ECONOMY

The state reported 272,117 jobless claims for the week ending March 28, a second straight week of record numbers. The state has received 468,414 claims in the past two weeks — over 100,000 more than for all of 2019 — while paying out $45 million to more than 108,000 claimants.

Craft store company Hobby Lobby agreed to again close its Ohio stores, Attorney General Dave Yost said in a tweet late Wednesday. Yost had sent a cease-and-desist order following reports that several stores were open in Ohio, demanding proof the stores meet the “essential business” requirements under the state’s stay-at-home order.

Messages were left with the company Wednesday and Thursday seeking comment.

In Medina in northeastern Ohio, dozens of cars lined up before dawn as 1,000 food boxes were distributed through the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank, according to WEWS-TV.

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CARE

At Rickenbacker International Airport in Columbus, a cargo plane from Shanghai, China, delivered 83 metric tons of personal protective equipment, including gloves, gowns, goggles, masks and hand sanitizer. The shipment, coordinated through the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, was not staying in Ohio but was bound for medical distributors in areas of greatest need, then to U.S. hospitals, health care facilities and nursing homes, according to the Columbus Regional Airport Authority.

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CASES

More than 2,500 Ohio cases are confirmed, with 65 deaths as of Wednesday and nearly 700 people hospitalized, officials reported. That doesn’t reflect all cases in Ohio, because the state limits testing to those who are hospitalized and to health care workers.

In Alliance, Kimberly Holbrook said a memorial service will have to wait for safer times following the March 28 death of her husband, Jeffrey Holbrook, 55, from COVID-19, according to The Repository. Kimberly Holbrook urged people to take the coronavirus seriously.

For most people, COVID-19 displays mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can be more severe, causing pneumonia or death.

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ABORTION ACCESS

Yost appealed a federal judge’s Monday order that found unconstitutional the state’s temporary ban on elective surgeries if it prohibits abortions from being carried out.

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THE NEW NORMAL

In Ohio’s Amish country, Amish women and their families are sewing N-95 mask covers, gowns and boot covers, bound for health care workers in Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri and New Jersey, according to The Columbus Dispatch.

Yost has ordered Ohio’s police officer training academy to speed up the final examinations of about 300 cadets to allow them to hit the streets faster. He’s also working with local law enforcement agencies to help allow recently retired officers to return.

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Associated Press writers John Seewer in Toledo and Kantele Franko in Columbus contributed to this report.