After more than a year of living under a state of emergency created by the coronavirus pandemic and all the various health orders and shutdowns, it really does feel like we are accelerating toward the finish line.
Governor DeWine updated the state's response to the pandemic yesterday and said we are making progress toward the benchmark he set last week to lifting health orders.
As Ohio works toward removing health orders and mandates, the effort by Republicans in the Ohio House and Senate to limit the governor's authority to implement those orders moved ahead. The bill has cleared the General Assembly.
The City of Cleveland is planning for the resumption of summer recreation opportunities including opening outdoor pools and allowing for small gatherings in public parks. The push to reopen is accelerating as effort to vaccinate Ohioans who want the COVID-19 shots picks up.
This week, the governor further expanded the pool of eligible Ohioans to include those 50 and over.
The state is also preparing to launch its first mass vaccination site. It will be in Cleveland at the Wolstein Center. Other mass vaccination sites will follow
Ensuring that people of color are included in the efforts to get Ohioans vaccinated remains a key goall for health administrators. Currently vaccine rates for people of color lag behind their white counterparts.This has led to neighborhood based efforts to increase those numbers. A renewed effort to toughen the state's penalties for hazing brought the re-introducion of a bill known as "Collin's Law" this week.
Lawmakers re-introduced the measure Wednesday. The bill draws its name from Collin Wiant who died at an Ohio University off-campus party in 2018. But the death this past weekend from another apparent hazing incident at Bowling Green State University brought renewed attention to the issue of hazing. In the Bowling Green incident, 20-year-old Stone Foltz died after an alleged hazing incident while pledging a fraternity..
Ohio schools could be in for another change in how the state ranks their peformance. Rather than giving districts an "A" through "F" grade as is the current system, lawmakers propose moving to a more nuanced ranking. Those ratings would include a continuum from "significantly exceeds expectations" to "in need of support" at the low end of the rankings.
Marlene Harris-Taylor, Managing Producer for Health, Ideastream
Taylor Haggerty, Reporter, Ideastream
Karen Kasler, Statehouse News Bureau Chief, Ohio Public Radio/TV
