Governor DeWine Announces Formation of Testing Strike Team

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine Tuesday announced the formation of a Testing Strike Team as the state works to reopen. It will be lead by former Governor Richard Celeste and Governor Bob Taft. They will work with Ohio leaders from business, academia, and public health to be part of the effort to help us source critical testing items such as reagents. The Governor said he spoke with the United States Food and Drug Administration and Vice President Pence Sunday to approve new types of reagents that can expand testing. DeWine says the request was approved Tuesday.

The Governor also announced that the Ohio Department of Agriculture will waive the requirement that Agriculture Societies must put up matching funds in order to receive $50,000 facilities grants. That way, fairs that quality will still have this money to put toward improvements, even if the local match isn’t available.

Less than two weeks ago the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation Board of Director approved to send up to $1.6 billion in dividends to Ohio employers. The first rounds of checks are now being mailed to employers who can invest that money into the needs of their businesses. A total of more than 170,000 checks will be mailed over the next five days. Around $1.4 billion will go to private employers and nearly $200 million will go to local government taxing districts, such as counties, cities, townships and schools.

Ohio Department of Health Director, Dr. Amy Acton announced there are 13,250 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 538 confirmed deaths