VW County returns to COVID Alert Level 1

VW independent/submitted information

COLUMBUS — Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Lt. Governor Jon Husted provided updates Thursday on Ohio’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. One positive for Van Wert County, was its being downgraded to Alert Level 1 status — the lowest level (see accompanying map) — due to declining COVID-19 cases. While the county saw an additional COVID-19 death over the past week, there were just eight new cases reported locally since last Thursday.

Regional mass vaccination sites
Next week, Ohio will open 11 stationary mass vaccination sites and four mobile clinics that will travel throughout specific regions of the state. The stationary mass vaccination sites will be held at:

• The Knights of Columbus, Lima
• The Lucas County Rec Center, Maumee
• Dayton-Montgomery County Convention Center, Dayton
• The Celeste Center, Columbus
• The Summit County Fairgrounds, Akron
• The site of the former Dillard’s at Southern Park Mall, Youngstown
• The Cintas Center, Cincinnati
• The Wilmington Airpark, Wilmington
• Adena Medical Education Center, Chillicothe
• Wayne Street Medical Campus, Marietta
• Colony Square Mall, Zanesville

Additionally, an Ohio Northern University mobile clinic will start next week and travel between Wyandot, Marion, Union, Logan, Crawford, and Hardin counties.

Vaccine Maintenance Program
The Ohio Department of Aging has created the Vaccine Maintenance Program to ensure new residents and employees, and established residents and employees who previously decided not to receive a vaccine, can still choose to receive one. 

“We are eager to partner with facilities across the state to ensure our long-term care residents and their caregivers are protected from COVID-19,” said Governor DeWine.  

The list of facilities includes nursing homes and assisted living facilities who have not indicated their willingness to participate in the Vaccine Maintenance Program or how they would make vaccinations available to their residents and staff.  

Ohio Public Health Advisory System
New health data compiled by the Ohio Department of Health shows declining rates of COVID-19 exposure and spread in 10 counties. 

Dropping from Alert Level 3 to Alert Level 2: Brown, Columbiana, Coshocton, Fulton, Lawrence, and Logan. 

Dropping from Alert Level 2 to Alert Level 1: Holmes and Van Wert. 

Job and Family Services update
Governor DeWine also announced a new agreement between the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and Google to conduct data analytics on all outstanding claims. Google will review claims for markers and patterns of fraud. This will allow the department to prioritize and quickly process legitimate, outstanding claims. 

Additionally, Governor DeWine announced that David DeVillers, former United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, will join the Public-Private Partnership Team (P3) as the law enforcement subject matter expert. He will serve as a liaison between the department and local, state, and federal law enforcement. 

Case data/vaccine information
In-depth COVID-19 data for Ohio: coronavirus.ohio.gov. 
Ohio’s central scheduling system: gettheshot.coronavirus.ohio.gov
All vaccine providers: vaccine.coronavirus.ohio.gov
More vaccine information: coronavirus.ohio.gov/vaccine

For more information on Ohio’s response to COVID-19, visit coronavirus.ohio.gov or call 1-833-4-ASK-ODH.