As I write this, I am watching Gov. DeWine, Lt. Gov. Husted, and Dr. Acton describe the reopening of our state of Ohio. This has been a long-awaited press briefing surrounded by anxiety on all sides. Will business open up enough in time to stay afloat? Are businesses going to open too quickly and suddenly spike our health curve? We are fighting a two-pronged attack right now of both an economic crisis and a healthcare crisis.
The governor thanked Ohioans for staying home and essentially "squashing" the curve in order to help take at least a small amount of pressure off of the healthcare crisis that we might have had if there had been a medical surge on the hospitals. He went on to say that this virus is still here; it is a monster that not going anywhere for awhile. The tools we have to keep it at bay are the same as they have always been, with a few additions, but the crux of these tools remains: physical distancing, wearing face coverings, hand washing, and general sanitation.
This virus will continue to evolve and although we are on the downslope of the curve, we need to vigilantly enter the next phase that will come with new stresses/anxieties as well as victories as we progress together.
Knowing that May is a crucial month, our state government has been working with businessmen and women to determine best practices for reopening later this month.
The main theme of the briefing has been PROTECTION moving forward. Businesses will need to abide by the following rules:
No Mask,
No Work,
No service,
No exception.
Period.
Stay at home orders are now going to be amended for May, but not relinquished, in a few specific ways. On March 17 Dr. Action issued an order for nonessential healthcare procedures to keep PPE in circulation. Gov. DeWine provided this general timeline for the rollout of the first wave of people going back to work:
May 1: Healthcare will be opening
Despite PPE still not where we want it to be, there is active task force on it and so all healthcare procedures that can be done which do not require an overnight stay can be done.
In addition, procedures treating an issue that could result in permanent injury/illness treatment is now allowed, along with procedures to mitigate debilitating pain or the presence of severe symptoms that impede a person's ability to complete everyday activities.
Lastly, veterinarians and dentists will be allowed to reopen, provided they have the proper PPE for their patients, even after donating much of it to hospitals that have needed in in the past two months.
May 4: Manufacturing and distribution for companies will be opened.
This is based upon best practices from health experts including:
-people are distanced physically or with screens
-no more than ten people may be in one socially congregated space
-facial coverings used by everyone
-general offices are able to be opened with the idea that as many personnel work from home as possible
May 12: Consumer resources and retail will be opened.
Similarly, this is based upon best practices from health experts including:
-people are distanced physically or with screens
-no more than ten people may be in one socially congregated space
-facial coverings used by everyone
-general offices are able to be opened with the idea that as many personnel work from home as possible
Nonessential businesses are still not going to be open and there is not a determined date for when they will be open. These openings are meant to bolster getting AMericans the food and goods they need, while slowly opening the economy on an essential level. It will be the first wave of reopening and will provide a "roadmap to recovery," as Amy Acton described it.
Sorry, friends...your housemates will still be doing your hair and the living room workouts will continue for the time being!
The reason that the governor felt confident in reopening these businesses came with improved testing and testing data showing that we will be increasing testing capacity in the next several weeks. For example, tomorrow we will have 7,228 per day tests available for our state, and then that jumps to 18,200 tests per day in two weeks which allows us to use contact tracing to help diminish community spread. By May 27th we expect to have 22,275 tests per day (133,650 tests per week). Testing and tracing are set to go together and both are looking to expand daily. In addition, there are 685 local health workers presently, but that number will expand to 1,750 by June. We are using volunteers at present to make up the shortfall and will eventually be hiring people for the longer term.
The ODH (Ohio Department of Health) is planning to watch how this goes for the next two weeks and then re-evaluate for next steps which could be, forward, backward, or staying the course for more data.
As Amy Acton reminds us, we all have to be our best selves together in many capacities...as teachers, as parents, as businesspeople, as healthcare workers, as Ohioans, and as people. People are good, people. Let's choose to enter this next phase together, compassionately.
Prepare, don't panic.
-Allison
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