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Day 91: Gov. DeWine Taking on Systemic Racism and the Climate of COVID

I am still "safe-at-home" (the rebrand for stay-at-home) after my five day stay at the hospital. Thankfully we finally have some answers about why my oxygen was dropping-I do have a pneumonia with two partially collapsed lungs. Thankfully the right one is doing much better, but the left one needs to catch up. I am getting up on the hour to walk a lap (slowly) around my house to push myself during the day, as well as using a spirometer to expand my lungs with some medical intervention. We think I may finally be turning a corner!



Today's briefing with Gov. DeWine was centered around the three main issues our country is facing right now: systemic racism/police brutality (now correctly labeled as a healthcare crisis in Ohio), economic recession, and the novel coronavirus. Additionally, Gov. DeWine touched on the importance of helping Ohioans with disabilities, who are disproportionately affected by COV-19.


Tomorrow is the 50th anniversary of Ohioans With Disabilities Act and is now being renamed the "Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities." This organizations helps Ohioans with disabilities succeed in the workforce. Right now, more than 1.6 million Ohioans have a disability (875,000 are of working age) and find themselves constricted due to their disability.


Gov. DeWine has chosen not to have press briefings on the days of George Floyd's funeral and memorial services, encouraging Ohioans to use that time to reflect and remember.


"Watching what happened with George Floyd was horrifying and disgusting as a human being."-Gov. DeWine

Currently, the political climate across Ohio is extremely tense. While protesters take to the streets, police and law enforcement are unable to keep up. Many protests are peaceful, and many turn more violent. Many of the police act in such a way to support and protect protesters, while many do not. As the tension has escalated, curfews have now been enacted from 10 PM to 6 AM in most urban areas in an attempt to keep people safe and also regain control of the narrative.



It's a scary, uncertain world right now.


So many things are coalescing at once that it can be hard to pick apart the separate issues that we are dealing with:


1) Systemic racism and oppression in the United States of America.

2) Police brutality, especially as it relates to POC.

3) Economic windfall leading to loss of revenue, businesses, and a steady paycheck.

4) Social distancing/quarantine during this COVID-19 pandemic.


As a white, cis-gendered female, I understand that I come from a place of privilege that many do not share. Therefore, I am not an appropriate spokesperson for the BLM movement. My place, as I see it, is to protect POC and help make space for their voices to be heard, rather than speaking for them collectively. As I am still sick at home, a lot of this is virtual right now, and the bulk of what I am choosing to do is checking in with friends who are struggling because of the color of their skin. According to the NAACP:



In 2015 Gov. Kasich (OH) formed a Police Advisory Board to create standards for Ohio’s law enforcement officers. Tier 1 covered "Use of Force" as well as "Hiring and Recruitment."

Today Gov. DeWine stated that he will be putting out a lot of information on the steps Ohio is taking to enact meaningful change as quickly as possible. He led with an explanation of how diversity will now be more prioritized in police force.


Just over half of Ohio’s police departments are meeting the standards of certification, which have been set by the Advisory Board. DeWine is encouraging all those departments who are not certified to begin working toward compliance with these minimum standards so that they can then get more extensive training on issues such as the #8cantwait. For reference, this is a part of Campaign Zero, a group dedicated to education and enactment of police reform.



Direct outreach will be made to assist departments with the process of beginning to enact these changes, which is a really positive step forward. A report will be issued to the public about which departments are in compliance publicsafety.ohio.gov from now on.


Other standards have been outlined by this group including: community engagement, body cameras, bias free policing, employee misconduct and review, etc. DeWine added that there will be new standard on pursuits in cars.


In response to the mass protests that are occuring in all 50 states, DeWine felt that further standards cannot wait and require immediate action. He emphasized the importance of social distancing, while also agreeing whole-heartedly that change needs to be made to stop systemic racism, and other methods to be heard have not worked up to this point.



DeWine is already in conversations with Ohio PD concerning when to use pepper spray, tear gas, rubber bullets, etc. Essentially: what are the best practices for determining if a crowd is a danger to the people in/around it AND how to appropriately deal with crowd that refuses to disperse.


He went on to ask, how do we prevent media members from being injured? What about the protesters in all the footage who have been attacked by the police as they keep mandated distance or try to walk away? Videos of The Ohio State University student newspaper show student reporters walking away when asked to leave, only to be chased down by police offers, thrown to the ground and pepper sprayed while holding up their press credentials. I feel like watching the videos is important, because otherwise there is no way to convey the scale of what is happening outside the four walls of my dining room. At the same time, watching over and over can numb us because our brains are so shocked.


We need to know and then we need to act.


DeWine is in favor of the idea to give peaceful demonstrators a safe space to use their first amendment rights while protecting the public from "destruction of property." As long as we can recognize that murder and loss of life comes before protecting property, I see a lot of positives of how DeWine is trying to rectify the situation.



There is also a new recruitment office specifically created to recruit more women and people of color into police departments to continue the work of local police agencies with representation. This idea works two-fold to both boost recruitment and retention and work with mayors and chiefs of police on how to best diversify the workplace.


When asked about defunding the police, a new movement in many states, he responded, "I’m not in favor of defunding the police, that would be absurd."


"We need police, we need fire, we need EMTs to protect people’s lives," he said. That doesn’t mean we don’t do reforms, that doesn’t mean we don’t look to constantly change the system. He recognized the problem of officers moving from department to department after reports of misconduct and has a team working on preventative strategies in this area.


DeWine is taking all action he can as governor and he says this is not the end but the beginning of a long series of changes. He says that state legislature must take action to continue the work and build on the role of the executive branch.


He rephrased his original statement replacing the word "minimum standards" with "best practices" and stated his desire to invite anyone into the conversation and gave the contact information for the Public Safety Office and the Office of Criminal Justice Services. He is adamant to include citizens, police unions, and the black community to work on solutions together immediately.



Turning to the third area of current crisis, DeWine discussed the economy in Ohio.

Business who participate in the state insurance fund are receiving masks and face coverings (50 coverings are included in each packets) which is a great incentivizer to reopen safely.

BWC is working to help protect employees and business owners as they reopen and PPE is being provided to state institutions in a 90 day supply including mental health workers.

The state is also looking at long term solutions to the supply chain to ensure that PPE remains available to both health care workers and other professionals. Ohio manufacturing partners and longer term contracts with suppliers are helping position Ohio in a solid spot regarding availability of PPE (gloves, masks, sanitizer, etc.) for significant period of time.

Purell is increasing manufacturing sites to four in Ohio and will create at least 200 new jobs in the state as they work to supply Ohio with hand sanitizer.


Last, let's talk how the COVID-19 crisis is still happening right now. It may feel like "half-time" to some, but really, we are just learning to more effectively live in the midst of this pandemic. The WHO report came out saying that it is rare for someone who is asymptomatic to pass on COVID 19 to their contacts, which is helpful for how many people have been socially isolating. DeWine's guest from OSU emphasized that presymptomatic is different to asymptomatic. Presymptomatic people typically go on to develop more severe COVID-19 symptoms. We don’t know how many people who are asymptomatic have passed on infection because we are not doing that kind of testing yet. When we can, it will shine.a huge light on data that has the potential to move things forward faster.



As it stands, only people who are symptomatic, or work in a field with high chance for spread, have been tested. This does not eliminate the need for social distancing and hand washing! Masking is still helpful in stopping the spread by protecting others from the source of a transmission and needs to be understood as a best practice policy right now.


The R-naught remains slightly below 1-1 but is starting to go up approaching that 1-1, 1-1.2 in certain areas of Ohio. Therefore, several suggestions were reaffirmed:


1) You should consider yourself contagious even if you do not have symptoms.

2) Help protect your fellow citizens by maintaining distance from others .

3) Wear a mask because you don’t know if you’re presymptomatic.

4) Closer distance and increased time at that distance represents the things that put people at the highest risk


He again reminded us of what Dr. Acton has been saying all along--the numbers we have are two weeks behind the curve of where the virus is now, just based on how virus can spread, especially one that presents asymptomatically.


We do not have to start from scratch on this. There are a lot of good ideas out there that have been proposed that could work with more input. It is crucial to get information out there about the use of force and we need to put into practice practical solutions that will work now. DeWine's promise to his constituents? He will look forward to working with the police unions, Ohio civilians, and with the state legislatures and, "I will get things done."


Local governments and local agencies are looking into their local police budgets and DeWine is acting to balance the economic concerns with balancing the budget while still unsure of what resources we need for the pandemic in the middle of ending centuries old systemic racism in our state. His thoughts?



"We need to get the right balance and counties are encouraged to examine their local budgets and allocate their resources accordingly." Moving forward together is the only way forward. I am to get going as a citizen of this state to make it safe for people who do not look like me. We all need to make space for listening, rather than shouting louder than next person. We need to march down Main Street in solidarity, rather than drag our heels in circles on our driveway. Suit up, Avengers. And do not forget your mask and cape.


Prepare, don't panic.


-Allison


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