Complete Story
04/03/2020
COVID-19 Update from Governor DeWine
Ohio State Press Conference Summary: 3/31 – 4/2
Thursday, 4/2: Governor DeWine announced an extension to the stay at home order until 5/1. Full details on the amended stay at home order can be found here. The Governor also announced the creation of and Economic Advisory Board, composed of business leaders throughout the state, to help the administration work through economic issues as the state looks to the future.
Lt. Governor Husted discussed that e-commerce was added to the essential business list by Homeland Security. He also clarified that the 90 day pause on foreclosures announced on 4/1 are for issues due to COVID-19, not a license to not pay rent or mortgage. A new site was created for employers looking for additional workers at this time: www.coronavirus.ohio.gov/jobsearch. Almost 12,000 jobs are posted for various essential industries across the state. The Lt. Governor requested that anyone who is not working but is physically able to work look into applying in one of these essential industries to help ease the supply chain burden.
Wednesday, 4/1: The Governor started by discussing the separation of the state into three zones for tracking/treatment purposes: centered around Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati. The goal is to deal with two variables: capacity of hospitals and level of care. National Guard resources are being deployed to these three regions to assist local officials in planning and build up. Ohio received a FEMA Major Presidential Disaster Declaration that will provide funds for emergency protective measures related to the COVID-19 crisis.
The Governor announced the forming of the Ohio Manufacturing Alliance to Fight COVID-19. The goal is to rally manufactures to assist the healthcare industry in dealing with the crisis. He called on any manufacturers to register at www.repurposingproject.com to see what they need and match to companies that can provide those items.
The Governor signed an executive order to help small businesses avoid foreclosure issues due to COVID-19. The goal is to lessen the burden on the chain of commercial lending by requesting a 90-day pause to allow lenders to put payments on back end of loan so that everyone receives a break in their rent and mortgage payments due. Lt. Governor Husted requested that anyone needing assistance should talk with their lenders.
Tuesday, 3/31: Governor DeWine opened with a statement on the group Jobs Ohio. Planning is in process to help spur economic growth once the current crisis has subsided. The group is announcing a $2MM growth fund loan to Appalachian Growth Capital (AGC) to help those Ohioans hardest hit in 32 Appalachian counties by supporting small businesses. Ohio EPA signed a statewide order to prevent/reinstate any water shut offs during the stay at home order period. A new rapid test system has been developed by Battelle and OSU that will increase capacity to process up to 1,000 new tests per day.
Lt. Gov. Husted confirmed that the unemployment online system has been upgraded to increase capacity by 20X. The state has also trained and hired 100 new reps for the unemployment call center. He urged patience and persistence with getting signed up in the unemployment system. A grace period was issued on March 20th for employers that had trouble paying health insurance premiums to maintain coverage for employees. Also, on March 20th, and order was put in place to make sure out-of-network and in-network hospitals charge the same rates through insurance, and also cover testing for COVID-19. Insurance for property and casualty issued a 60-day window to delay pay. Payment is not waived, only delayed. Premiums still need to be paid in full.
