Ohio Delays Child Care Announcement; 700 COVID-19 Cases Confirmed

COLUMBUS, OH — Gov. Mike DeWine delayed announcing a reopening date for child care services on Monday. He said officials are still working on health and safety protocols for those facilities and he would not yet announce a reopening date.

"Reopening child care centers is simply too important without all the best information and protocols in place.," DeWine said. "It won't be long before we're in a position to announce a reopening."

The governor said the state must get the reopening of child care facilities correct to protect Ohio kids. "It's very important that we get this right. We don't want to announce a date until we have the protocols in place. We're focusing on the safety of the kids, their families, and the employees," DeWine said.

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"The mistakes I've made in my career have come about when I haven't had all the facts or didn't dig deep enough — so this process is continuing. Reopening childcare centers is simply too important to do so without all the best information and protocols in place," DeWine said.

By Tuesday morning, 90 percent of Ohio's economy will have been reopened, DeWine said Monday. Consumer retail services can begin welcoming customers on May 12.

Monday's Numbers

Ohio confirmed 696 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday afternoon, the state health department announced. Over the past 21 days, Ohio has averaged 596 new cases of COVID-19 daily. Testing has been expanded, though it's unclear how many tests are being done on average by health officials.

There 16 deaths related to COVID-19 in Ohio on Monday. That's down versus the state's 21-day average for new deaths, which was 40 new deaths daily.

Hospitalizations and intensive care admissions were down versus the 21-day average as well, the state said. There were 62 new hospitalizations and 12 new ICU admissions on Monday. The 21-day average for daily COVID-19 hospitalizations is 84; while the ICU average is 20.

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