Governor Mike DeWine announced a special Testing Strike Force to tackle the shortage of COVID-19 tests across Ohio. As Coronavirus cases soar past 13,000 he once again went to the FDA to push for approval for a new testing reagent. Plus he also announced a plan to help county fairs survive the COVID-19 crisis. We’ll break down four important points from today’s briefing.
COVID-19 Cases
- Presumed Cases – 13,725
Confirmed – 13, 250 - Hospitalizations – 2,779
ICU Admissions – 838 - Presumed Deaths -557′
Confirmed Deaths -538 - Marion County now has 2,132 cases
This is largely due to cases from the Marion Correctional Institution. - Scioto County – 6 cases
Dr. Amy Acton said the number of new cases is starting to trend down. But there is an uptick in hospitalizations.
“We don’t want to just flatten this curve. We want to stay ahead of this curve. We are using a blunt instrument with social distancing. We’re hoping to add new tools.”
She emphasized the importance of extensive testing and tracing the contacts of those who test positive.
“On the other side of our plan is what I like to call the dimmer switch. What we did getting into this was flip the light switch. What we’ll do to get out of this is use a dimmer switch.”
Acton said they would have to slowly open up society by doing the lowest-risk things first and then slowly dial it up.
Testing Strike Force
Dewine announced that he is forming a special Testing Strike Force to tackle the shortage of tests in Ohio. “Testing is vital as we begin to reopen our economy.”
The Strike Force will be led by former Governor Dick Celeste and former Governor Bob Taft. They will focus on working to expand and maximize the testing capabilities in the state.
“These are two remarkable individuals. They both love Ohio and were quick to say yes.”
DeWine Calls The FDA Again
As part of the push for expanded testing, DeWine says that he’s once again contacted the FDA to push for approval for a new weapon in the war against COVID-19.
This time it’s for a new reagent. Dewine described reagent chemicals as, “”Kind of the secret sauce. It’s necessary to tell if a sample contains the COVID-19 virus. Each company uses a different reagent.”
He said he spoke to both the FDA and the Vice President in regard to a new reagent from a company called Thermo Fisher. They were waiting on approval for the chemical and he asked if it could be moved forward.
DeWine said the head of the FDA called today to inform him of the approval.
The Governor said, “Most of the labs in Ohio use the Thermal fisher machines. This will expand our testing capacity. Thermal Fisher hopes to give Ohio enough reagent by mid-may to increase testing. We are also working with other companies.”
Fairs Up In The Air
The status of the Ohio State Fair and various county fairs around the state are up in the air. DeWine doesn’t know if they will happen this year. But he knows that the local fairs still have bills to pay.
Previously each fair could get a grant of $50,000 if they provided matching funds. This year the Ohio Department of Agriculture will waive the requirement that they come up with matching funds. Fair managers have until May 30 to apply for the grants.