{"id":145999,"date":"2021-09-14T22:18:41","date_gmt":"2021-09-15T03:18:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=145999"},"modified":"2021-09-14T22:18:43","modified_gmt":"2021-09-15T03:18:43","slug":"gov-childrens-hospitals-urging-masks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2021\/09\/14\/gov-childrens-hospitals-urging-masks\/","title":{"rendered":"Gov., children&#8217;s hospitals, urging masks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>Independent staff and submitted information<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>COLUMBUS &#8212; Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on Tuesday joined with the Ohio Children&#8217;s Hospitals Association in a direct appeal to school superintendents to require masks for staff and students during the current surge of the coronavirus.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"243\" src=\"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Mike-DeWine-headshot-3-2019.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-114781\"\/><figcaption>Mike DeWine<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The plea was made during a virtual meeting Tuesday with superintendents and the clinical leadership from six Ohio children&#8217;s hospitals, including Dayton Children\u2019s Hospital,&nbsp;ProMedica Russell J. Ebeid Children\u2019s Hospital,&nbsp;Cincinnati Children\u2019s Hospital Medical Center,&nbsp;Nationwide Children\u2019s Hospital, Akron Children&#8217;s Hospital, and University Hospitals Rainbow Babies &amp; Children&#8217;s Hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The data are now clear that there is a higher level of COVID-19 in school districts where masks are not required,&#8221; said Governor DeWine. &#8220;If we want our schools to stay open, the best way to do that is for those 12 and over to get vaccinated. But because those under 12 are still too young to be vaccinated, we need students who come in to school to wear a mask until we get through this.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Data that support this appeal include:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Since August 15, there have been 29,823&nbsp;Ohio school-aged kids&nbsp;ages 5 to 17&nbsp;with confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19.<\/li><li>Cases among this age group increased 198 percent from the week of August 15, as&nbsp;compared to the week ending September 4.<\/li><li>As reported Monday by the American Academy of Pediatrics, COVID-19 cases among children have increased 240 percent nationally since early July when the Delta variant began to surge. During that same period in Ohio, there has been a&nbsp;2,000 percent&nbsp;increase in cases among Ohio children.<\/li><li>COVID-19 cases are increasing at nearly twice the rate among school-aged kids as compared to the rest of the population. This past week Ohio saw a 44 percent increase among school-aged children and only a 17 percent increase among the rest of the population.<\/li><li>Over the two-week period ending September 4, there was an average of 909 cases per 100,000 school-aged Ohio kids versus 561 cases per 100,000 people comprising the rest of the population.&nbsp;<\/li><li>The 16 days with the highest number of cases per day throughout the entire pandemic for kids ages 5 to 17 in Ohio have all been in the last 19 days. This includes every day except the three days of the Labor Day weekend.<\/li><li>In Ohio school districts where masks are optional among school-aged kids, there are both higher case rates per 100,000&nbsp;at 945.7 and a greater week-over-week increase in cases. School districts where masks are optional have seen a 54 percent week-over-week increase compared to a 34 percent increase in school districts where masks are either required for all or required for some (usually K-8th&nbsp;grade).<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Nick Lashutka, president and CEO of the Ohio Children\u2019s Hospital Association<br><\/strong>\u201cThis is a perfect storm, and it\u2019s impacting kids like it hasn\u2019t before. It\u2019s a combination driven by COVID-19 cases increasing, primarily driven by the Delta variant, increasing respiratory illnesses, more mental health challenges, and staffing challenges. Everyone can agree that our number one goal is to keep children in schools five days a week, and that\u2019s what we shared with the state\u2019s superintendents today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Debbie Feldman, president and CEO of Dayton Children\u2019s Hospitals<br><\/strong>\u201cOhio is truly blessed to have some of the best children\u2019s hospitals in the country. We pride ourselves on meeting the needs of our kids. Our commitment is really threatened right now. For a long time, COVID-19 was perceived as a disease that didn\u2019t impact children. That\u2019s not the case anymore. Today, 25 percent of COVID-19 cases are in kids. We\u2019re feeling that in our children\u2019s hospitals.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Paula Grieb,&nbsp;DNP, RN,&nbsp;chief nursing officer, ProMedica Russell J. Ebeid Children\u2019s Hospital<br><\/strong>&#8220;In the city of Toledo and at Ebeid Children\u2019s Hospital, we\u2019ve seen significant in-patient and out-patient volumes, and we&#8217;ve seen a significant increase in kids with respiratory illnesses. We had a significant event occur last night in Lucas County. That means if a rescue squad responded to a 911 call and picked up a patient to take them to a hospital that was on EMS bypass, that rescue squad would not be allowed to stop at that hospital. The county EMS system would have to dispatch each call one at a time. That means a patient wouldn\u2019t necessarily go to the hospital closest to them or best-suited to take care of the patients\u2019 needs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rustin Morse, MD, CEO, Nationwide Children\u2019s Hospital<br><\/strong>\u201cWe are in uncharted territory. Not just in children\u2019s hospitals, but adult hospitals as well. The infrastructure is strained like it hasn\u2019t been before. We are asking people to get vaccinated if they aren\u2019t already, and we are asking them to wear masks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Patty Manning, MD, chief of staff, Cincinnati Children\u2019s Hospital Medical Center<br><\/strong>\u201cOur inpatient numbers are the highest they\u2019ve been. Our ICUs are caring for more patients than there\u2019s ever been. More children are on ventilators than there has ever been. There are more children than ever entering our emergency departments and our urgent care centers. That impacts the care of all children, not just those that are COVID-19 positive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Case data\/vaccination information<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>In-depth COVID-19 data for Ohio:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flnks.gd%2Fl%2FeyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.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.Vx1mVeUFCuWGuT0HOxrpPpZfsltKyA5Sep0tE09dUvY%2Fbr%2F76746661264-l&amp;data=04%7C01%7Cjill.delgreco%40governor.ohio.gov%7C05f27518e2a34538d83608d9372352d6%7C50f8fcc494d84f0784eb36ed57c7c8a2%7C0%7C0%7C637601449618625389%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C2000&amp;sdata=3Jo9qGMJl5qwQRv%2FHsthM2VLsc6yMCXHanaaI7BNzCE%3D&amp;reserved=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">coronavirus.ohio.gov<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Ohio&#8217;s central vaccine scheduling system:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/lnks.gd\/l\/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJidWxsZXRpbl9saW5rX2lkIjoxMDEsInVyaSI6ImJwMjpjbGljayIsImJ1bGxldGluX2lkIjoiMjAyMTA2MjQuNDIzNTU5NDEiLCJ1cmwiOiJodHRwczovL2xua3MuZ2QvbC9leUpoYkdjaU9pSklVekkxTmlKOS5leUppZFd4c1pYUnBibDlzYVc1clgybGtJam94TURRc0luVnlhU0k2SW1Kd01qcGpiR2xqYXlJc0ltSjFiR3hsZEdsdVgybGtJam9pTWpBeU1UQTBNRGd1TXpnME56TTBOREVpTENKMWNtd2lPaUpvZEhSd2N6b3ZMMmRsZEhSb1pYTm9iM1F1WTI5eWIyNWhkbWx5ZFhNdWIyaHBieTVuYjNZaWZRLk9LZ012T3QxUEY4bjdJbnFXTENibFFnM1RvbTBmNm5IVGt6NVJTcUQzZ3Mvcy85NTM5MDM3ODAvYnIvMTAxNzE4MTc2MDIzLWwifQ.GEmtaJ7hvRoF7skFx8w4xGvSBa7nhUZakEBmmy31iJw\/s\/953903780\/br\/108373002720-l\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">gettheshot.coronavirus.ohio.gov<\/a><\/li><li>All vaccine providers:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/lnks.gd\/l\/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJidWxsZXRpbl9saW5rX2lkIjoxMDMsInVyaSI6ImJwMjpjbGljayIsImJ1bGxldGluX2lkIjoiMjAyMTA2MjQuNDIzNTU5NDEiLCJ1cmwiOiJodHRwczovL2xua3MuZ2QvbC9leUpoYkdjaU9pSklVekkxTmlKOS5leUppZFd4c1pYUnBibDlzYVc1clgybGtJam94TURZc0luVnlhU0k2SW1Kd01qcGpiR2xqYXlJc0ltSjFiR3hsZEdsdVgybGtJam9pTWpBeU1UQTBNRGd1TXpnME56TTBOREVpTENKMWNtd2lPaUpvZEhSd2N6b3ZMM1poWTJOcGJtVXVZMjl5YjI1aGRtbHlkWE11YjJocGJ5NW5iM1lpZlEubzUtN0U5b2o1aUZ1NjJHTm1leXdnNjZaTlVyd0dvckZ4WURnTXFFOUsxVS9zLzk1MzkwMzc4MC9ici8xMDE3MTgxNzYwMjMtbCJ9.GJsfdesbnTACAK8JgrEBzwAG2o-EdZ2sZ2T2cvZukaU\/s\/953903780\/br\/108373002720-l\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">vaccine.coronavirus.ohio.gov<\/a><\/li><li>More vaccine information:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/lnks.gd\/l\/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJidWxsZXRpbl9saW5rX2lkIjoxMDQsInVyaSI6ImJwMjpjbGljayIsImJ1bGxldGluX2lkIjoiMjAyMTA2MjQuNDIzNTU5NDEiLCJ1cmwiOiJodHRwczovL2xua3MuZ2QvbC9leUpoYkdjaU9pSklVekkxTmlKOS5leUppZFd4c1pYUnBibDlzYVc1clgybGtJam94TURjc0luVnlhU0k2SW1Kd01qcGpiR2xqYXlJc0ltSjFiR3hsZEdsdVgybGtJam9pTWpBeU1UQTBNRGd1TXpnME56TTBOREVpTENKMWNtd2lPaUpvZEhSd2N6b3ZMMk52Y205dVlYWnBjblZ6TG05b2FXOHVaMjkyTDNaaFkyTnBibVVpZlEubF9hVmNBNHhuVmtsRG1xbWhuaWtpU096S0hPeGNtekIzVE5rVWs2Q011SS9zLzk1MzkwMzc4MC9ici8xMDE3MTgxNzYwMjMtbCJ9.Ul2x4BhLLhCK9q3glC_7D3_2t-WhrLEfRzym1UFhHXk\/s\/953903780\/br\/108373002720-l\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">coronavirus.ohio.gov\/vaccine<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information on Ohio&#8217;s response to COVID-19, visit&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flnks.gd%2Fl%2FeyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.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.R_ynRHXbSrOH37zaqM5Mauq6VvIT_rMyqLaEQgq9LsA%2Fbr%2F76436228066-l&amp;data=04%7C01%7Cjill.delgreco%40governor.ohio.gov%7C05f27518e2a34538d83608d9372352d6%7C50f8fcc494d84f0784eb36ed57c7c8a2%7C0%7C0%7C637601449618645303%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C2000&amp;sdata=SmQEtOGHjpqfMIuO9dq1cRVnaRHRiCZCFsFMxGA3ocI%3D&amp;reserved=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">coronavirus.ohio.gov<\/a>&nbsp;or call 1-833-4-ASK-ODH.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Independent staff and submitted information COLUMBUS &#8212; Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on Tuesday joined with the Ohio Children&#8217;s Hospitals Association in a direct appeal to school superintendents to require masks for staff and students during the current surge of the coronavirus.&nbsp; The plea was made during a virtual meeting Tuesday with superintendents and the clinical [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-145999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-18 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