Sports, entertainment facilities to reopen at 30%, 25% capacity

Feb. 25—COLUMBUS — Gov. Mike DeWine said Thursday that some sports and entertainment facilities will be able to reopen soon at up to 25 percent capacity for indoor arenas and 30 percent for outdoor venues.

"The whole goal will be for all of us to get back to what our life was before the pandemic," the governor said. "There's a bridge to that life, and we have to take the bridge. It's built on two things—vaccinations and to continue to wear masks.

"There will be a point in the future where we have herd immunity and we do not have to wear the mask," he said. "We're now crossing the bridge."

He said he will announce specific details within days. The capacity limits will be accompanied by mandatory wearing of face masks and socially distanced seating that put at least six feet between groups of no more than six people who are preferably members of the same household.

"This is a start," Mr. DeWine said. "If the situation improves in spring and summer, this could be expanded."

The pending changes could affect spring and summer professional sports games like baseball and soccer and fairs, festivals, and parades. They could include indoor sports like hockey as well as graduation ceremonies, proms, and weddings with details changing based on whether they are held outdoors or indoors.

"This is not maybe your dream of a prom, people who have a mask on," Mr. DeWine said, "But you can still have a prom. You can still have a graduation. We want to signal to people today that you can start planning. We can do this."

The ban on new admissions at veterans hospitals in Sandusky and Georgetown is being lifted with new admissions quarantined for 14 days before joining the general population. There are no current positive cases in either facility where vaccine participation was extremely high.

In-person visitations will resume at the state's behavioral health hospitals.

The governor said that 1.5 million Ohioans have received at least the first dose of the two two-dose vaccines currently available. He expects 310,000 more doses to be delivered to providers next week, and that does not include an estimated 90,000 of Johnson & Johnson's one-dose vaccine, assuming it rapidly wins federal approval.

The number of Johnson & Johnson doses are expected to decline in the immediate follow-up weeks but should then rise as production ramps up.

Ohio reported 2,409 new coronavirus cases Thursday, up from Wednesday but still very close to the 21-day average of 2,455.

Eighty new deaths were reported Thursday, below the three-week average of 267. The average remains artificially high as state officials continue to add nearly 4,000 previously unreported fatalities from late last year into its coronavirus database.

The state has reached a total of 962,404 cases and 17,125 deaths, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

More than 1.5 million people, or 13.1 percent of the state, have received at least the first dose of a vaccine. Locally, 15.2 percent of Lucas County residents and 14.7 percent of Wood residents have received shots.

The vast majority of K-12 schools in the state are expected to meet Mr. DeWine's demand that all students be physically back in the classroom at least part of the week as of Monday.

The governor made vaccinating all teachers and other adult employees of those schools a priority to make it happen. That process is expected to be completed by early next week, freeing up more vaccines to concentrate on other target populations of people age 65 and older and those with certain congenital and developmental conditions that make them particularly vulnerable to the effects of the virus.

The list of providers who will receive vaccines will expand to add some Meijer and Walmart locations as well as more independent pharmacies.

Lucas County reported 159 new infections, for a total of 34,850, on Thursday, but the number of deaths remained unchanged at 705. Wood County added 61 new cases and two more deaths since Monday, for respective totals of 11,428 and 193.

Meanwhile, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services announced Thursday that it has flagged for suspected fraud at least 29,000 of nearly 102,000 new claims for unemployment benefits filed last week.

In the 49 weeks since the start of the pandemic, the state has received nearly 2.7 million claims, paid out $8.6 billion in benefits to 941,000 Ohioans, and paid out $9.1 billion in federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance to 905,000 self-employed, contract, gig, and other workers not eligible for traditional benefits.

Last week, 322,542 Ohioans continued existing claims for traditional and extended jobless benefits and 235,695 received PUA benefits.

Those suspecting their identities have been compromised and used to file bogus claims are urged to visit unemployment.ohio.gov, click on the red "Report Identity Theft" button, and follow instructions. Individuals may also call 833-658-0394.

First Published February 25, 2021, 2:04pm