Governor set to discuss plan to start slowly reopening soon

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Gov. Mike DeWine was expected Monday to announce details of the first stage of Ohio’s reopening this Friday amidst the coronavirus pandemic, though he has cautioned that changes will come slowly and mass gatherings are still far in the future.

One emphasis will be on what businesses can reopen in ways that protect their employees and customers, the Republican governor said last Friday.

“We obviously want to get people working again. We want to get people back to as normal a life as possible,” DeWine said. “At the same time, we have to be careful. We don’t want to see spikes come up in the future, nor do we want to see us have to pull back things.”

Half of the state’s residents want to see Ohio’s economy get a jump-start this week, but their support waned when asked about opening specific businesses and churches, a new poll found.

Only about one-third of the Ohioans surveyed were ready for salons, churches and restaurants to open. And even less thought playgrounds and day cares should open this week, according to the poll conducted last week by Baldwin Wallace University.

Also Monday, a group of 32 Republican House members called for an immediate reopening of all businesses. The group’s plan says businesses should follow the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s safety guidelines, and also says DeWine’s office should issue guidance to local health departments.

In other coronavirus-related developments:

CASES

The state has 728 confirmed and probable deaths associated with the coronavirus to date, Ohio health officials reported on Sunday.

The Ohio health department’s statistics show a total of 15,963 people have tested positive, with 3,178 of them having to be hospitalized.

Most Ohio coroners are collecting extra blood samples from autopsies to go back and test for antibodies to better determine how many Ohioans were exposed to the coronavirus, Dr. Kent Harshbarger, Montgomery County coroner, told The Columbus Dispatch.

For most people, the virus causes mild or moderate symptoms that clear up in a couple of weeks. Older adults and people with existing health problems are at higher risk of more severe illness, including pneumonia, or death.

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PRISONS

Sixteen Ohio prison inmates and one guard have died from COVID-19, according to the state prisons agency. More than 2,000 inmates out of about 2,500 at Marion Correctional Institution have tested positive to date, while more than 1,500 of about 2,000 have tested positive at Pickaway Correctional Institution, where 10 of the inmates who died were housed.

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TESTING

Cincinnati-based grocery chain Kroger Co. is expanding free drive-thru testing for health care workers, first responders and people with COVID-19 symptoms. The company said Monday it has added Ohio sites in Toledo and Dayton, along with Detroit and Denver.

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Associated Press writers John Seewer in Toledo and Dan Sewell in Cincinnati contributed to this report.