Complete Story
04/28/2020
Ohio, Michigan and Kentucky Preparing to Reopen
Ohio State Press Conference Summary: 4/24 - 4/27
Monday, April 27: Governor DeWine began with discussing the process for the state reopening plan. The guidelines that are being put in place are the result of much discussion with the business and medical communities. The following guidelines are going to be in place starting Monday, May 4th, for manufacturing businesses:
- Ensure minimum 6 ft between people, if not possible, install barriers
- Employees must perform a daily symptom assessment (includes taking temperature with a thermometer; monitoring for fever, coughing, or trouble breathing)
- Require employees to stay home if symptomatic
- Face coverings must be worn at all times
- Require regular hand washing
- Stagger or limit arrivals of employees or guests
- Personnel should work from home if possible
- Daily disinfection of desks, workstations, and high contact surfaces
- Change shift patterns (e.g. fewer shifts)
- Stagger lunch and break times
- Establish maximum capacity (e.g. 50% of fire code)
In the event an employee exhibits any symptoms while at work:
- Immediately isolate and seek medical care for the individual
- Contact the local health district about suspected cases or exposures
- Shutdown shop/floor for deep sanitation if possible
The current stay-at-home order set to expire on May 1st will remain in place. Additionally, gatherings of more than 10 people remain prohibited.
Friday, April 24: Governor DeWine began by stating they will be releasing some of the details on the state reopening plan during Monday’s press conference. He discussed the state’s ability to “substantially” increase the capacity for testing due to state manufacturers stepping up the production of test kit components. The increase in capacity will allow the state to process 18,000 tests daily by May 7th, as opposed to the current capacity of 3,700.
Governor DeWine Announces Details of Ohio's Responsible RestartOhio Plan
Source: The Office of Governor Mike DeWine, April 27, 2020
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, Lt. Governor Jon Husted, and Dr. Amy Acton, MD, MPH, today made several major announcements regarding Ohio's plan to responsibly restart Ohio's economy during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
RESPONSIBLE RESTART OHIO: The guiding principles of the Responsible RestartOhio plan are protecting the health of employees, customers, and their families, supporting community efforts to control the spread of COVID-19, and responsibly getting Ohio back to work.
"We put this plan together based on all the information we have about how dangerous COVID-19 still is right now, balanced with the fact that it's also dangerous to have people not working," said Governor DeWine. "COVID-19 is still out there. It's still killing people. We're asking Ohioans to be reasonable and rational. Please don't take huge chances, and please use common sense when you go out and where you go out."
Michigan State Press Conference Summary: 4/26 - 4/27
Monday, April, 27, Paycheck Protection Program: Governor Whitmer along with the Small Business Association of Michigan (SBAM) and Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA) announced on Monday that businesses across Michigan are now able to apply for an additional $310 billion in Paycheck Protection Program forgivable loans through the U.S. Small Business Administration. More than 43,000 businesses in Michigan impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak received over $10 billion in forgivable loans during the first round of PPP funding, and are hopeful that many more will be able to receive the needed assistance during this second round.
Businesses that have a pending application are encouraged to verify their application status with their lender. Businesses that have not yet applied are encouraged to do so quickly. “We recommend that businesses double check with your lending institution that your application is still in line for a PPP loan,” said Brian Calley, President, SBAM. “Businesses that haven't applied, please act quickly since this money will be committed in a very short time.”
MI Safe Start Plan: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced the first steps to re-opening Michigan amid the coronavirus pandemic called the "MI Safe Start Plan". This plan will "take into account the various sectors of our economy, geographic and work-place risk, as well as our public health ability and work-place protocols to mitigate the risk." During Gov. Whitmer’s press conference Monday afternoon, she states that the plan will be incremental and will begin with workplace types that pose less risk. For example, the residential and commercial construction industry will likely be one of the first sectors to return to work.
Gov. Whitmer explains that they are cautiously optimistic as they are seeing covid-19 cases decline, so the first wave of return will happen as planned. She also warns that officials will continue to monitor the public health and measure success, pulling back quickly if they see a returned spike in coronavirus cases.
Businesses will also have to adopt new safety practices and carefully monitor employees, follow social distancing and provide PPE. Employers are also barred from retaliating against workers who stay home out of a health concern.
Gov. Whitmer said they are carefully evaluating a number of industrial sectors for a restart, and there will be a press conference at a future date to talk more about the plan.
Sunday, April 26: On Saturday, Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed Executive Order 2020-60 to establish strategies to reduce exposure to COVID-19 for both customers and employees. The order also provides temporary relief by suspending certain licensing requirements and regulations for food service industries. Under the order, customers are strongly encouraged to wear a face covering over their nose and mouth when entering a food establishment. Grocery stores and pharmacies must allocate at least two hours per week of shopping time for vulnerable populations. Additionally, if an employee tests positive for COVID-19, the establishment must notify other employees without infringing on private personal-health related information of an employee.
Governor Whitmer also signed Executive Order 2020-61, an expansion of Executive Order 2020-30, which relaxes scope of practice laws to give hospitals and other health care facilities the flexibility they need to deploy qualified physicians, respiratory therapists, physician assistants, nurses, and other health care providers the ability to give the critical care needed to combat COVID-19. The order also reinforces an existing law that protects hospitals and health care workers from liability for taking necessary steps to protect Michiganders during an emergency.
Kentucky State Press Conference Summary: 4/24 - 4/27
Monday, April 27: Kentucky took the first step in reopening its health care industry today,.Governor Beshear offered new details on restarting the sector while continuing to keep Kentuckians safe from COVID-19. The Governor says the Phase 1 reopening of health care services is the first step under the Healthy at Work initiative he introduced to help businesses restart operations safely when the time is right. The initiative set out public health benchmarks for reopening Kentucky’s economy. These benchmarks closely follow the White House’s Guidelines for Reopening America. As of today, health care practitioners can resume non-urgent/emergent health care services, diagnostic radiology and lab services in hospital outpatient settings, health care clinics and medical offices, physical therapy settings, chiropractic offices, optometrists and dental offices.
For full guidance on criteria for reopening and new best practices, click here. The Governor added that more industry reopening dates will be announced soon. By May 11, everybody working for an essential business that is reopening should be wearing a mask. Masks should also be worn when going to the grocery, into any place of business or anywhere social distancing of keeping at least six-feet apart might be broken.
Saturday, April 25: The Governor said those who applied for unemployment in March should expect to hear from someone this week. Everyone is working hard to respond to the claims, which are more numerous than at any time in our history.
Friday, April 24: Gov. Beshear issued an executive order for how the state will handle the primary election scheduled for June 23. “Today’s Executive Order and regulations, that will be created by the Kentucky State Board of Elections, will allow all Kentuckians who are registered to vote for the upcoming primary to vote by mail through an absentee ballot,” said Governor Beshear. The Governor said the State Board of Elections will also be working on a plan to safely conduct limited in-person voting and a possible drive-through voting option, so that those voters who cannot vote by mail can exercise their right to vote.
