COVID-19

Ohio will begin allowing indoor visitation at nursing homes, long-term care centers and intermediate care facilities, months after closing their doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Parents and other caregivers of children who are learning at home while schools are closed – even for part of the week – can receive weekly cash benefits, regardless of whether they would normally qualify for unemployment.

That’s according to guidance released at the end of August from the U.S. Department of Labor about who is eligible for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA). The program, part of the federal government’s COVID-19 relief plan, is aimed at those affected by the virus who are not eligible for regular unemployment benefits. 

The Ohio Department of Health reported 685 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, the lowest number of cases reported since Sept. 8. The state’s 21-day average continues to stay around 1,000 cases, with a slight downward trend.

On Tuesday Ohio reported 145,850 total COVID-19 cases and 4,635 deaths. The state has had 14,899 hospitalizations and 3,210 ICU admissions.

Pictures of people at political rallies in Ohio recently have shown most of them unmasked, in large crowds. The state’s mask mandate has gone unenforced at those events. 

Ohio State football is coming back in October.

In a reversal from last month, the Big Ten presidents voted unanimously to resume the football season starting the weekend of Oct. 23-24, 2020.

Cuyahoga County has the highest unemployment rate in the state at 12.9%. That statistic has led the state to pilot a new program there to help connect people to training and available jobs.

Called Ohio to Work, the program has been developed by the state’s JobsOhio agency, which its director J.B. Nauseef said today during the governor’s coronavirus briefing is uniquely capable of doing this quickly because of its structure.

With two months to go before this year’s presidential election, WYSO is asking Daytonians what issues they’re most concerned about. In a recent survey from our collaborative Your Voice Ohio elections project some key trends jumped out.

In this interview, producer Jess Mador speaks with John Green, Political Science Professor and Director Emeritus of the The University of Akron's Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics. Green oversaw the poll, which included 1,037 registered Ohio voters.