COVID-19 Restrictions To Be Partially Lifted For Spring Events!

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FEATURED PHOTO: OHIO LT. GOVERNOR JOHN HUSTED

Patch.com, By Chris Mosby, Posted March 5th 2021

If Ohioans receive the COVID-19 vaccine and continue to wear masks, small gatherings can go forward.

Events planned for spring in Ohio will be allowed to move forward with fewer COVID-19 restrictions, Gov. Mike DeWine announced Thursday.

Sporting and entertainment events can reopen with a 25 percent indoor capacity and 30 percent outdoor capacity, as long as they follow all mandated health protocols.

“This is the start,” Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said. “If conditions on the ground continue to improve, we can do even more.”

Employees and customers must continue to wear masks, seating in pods will continue, and facilities should have walkways which allow social distancing. General admission (lawn seating, bleachers, etc.) are allowed as long as social distancing is followed.

Amusement parks will follow the same guidelines laid out by the state in 2020.

If COVID-19 numbers continue to fall and vaccination rates rise, larger crowds will be allowed at all events, the governor said.

“The goal is to get back to what life was before the pandemic. There’s a bridge to that life and we have to take that bridge. The bridge is built on two things: vaccinations and to continue to wear masks,” DeWine said. “There will be a point in the future, when we have herd immunity, when we won’t have to wear masks.”

Ohio officials are working with leaders of fairs and festivals to determine unique protocols for those upcoming events. Protocols for proms, banquet centers, wedding receptions and other events are being developed and will be released soon.

Fewer and fewer Ohioans are entering hospitals for COVID-19 treatment, Gov. Mike DeWine announced.

As of Thursday, February 25th afternoon, 1,262 Ohioans were in hospital beds being treated for COVID-19, the governor said. That’s down from 1,338 the week before and has been steadily dropping for weeks, the governor noted.

The decrease in COVID-19 hospitalizations has largely been driven by the state’s vaccination strategy, DeWine argued. Ohio health officials have been vaccinating older Ohioans and Ohioans with long-term, chronic medical illnesses.

At the peak of the pandemic, Ohioans 80 and older made up approximately 25 percent of all COVID-19-related hosptializations. As of Thursday, of the state’s 1,262 hospitalizations, only 18 percent were people 80 or older.

Here are all of Thursday’s COVID-19 numbers:

New cases: 2,409.
New deaths: 80.
New hospitalizations: 163.
New ICU admissions: 21.

At least 901,025 Ohioans have contracted COVID-19 and recovered, the Ohio Department of Health said.

More than 13 percent of Ohioans have received at least the first part of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the state health department. More than 6.6 percent of Ohioans have received both COVID-19 vaccine shots.

Also, as of Thursday afternoon, 1.53 million Ohioans had received at least the first shot and 772,126 Ohioans have completed the vaccination process.