COVID-19 State Updates: April 24

The Ohio Department of Health reported Friday an increase in confirmed coronavirus cases of 475, and an increase in deaths of 34, reaching 15,169 and 690, respectively.

• Cases have resulted in nearly 3,053 hospitalizations and 920 intensive care unit admissions.

Details on the plan to restart Ohio's economy and state budget cuts will be announced publicly next week.

Governor DeWine announced that members of the newly formed Testing Strike Team, led by former Governors Celeste and Taft, have reached an agreement with Thermo Fisher, a company that makes reagent, that will substantially expand COVID-19 testing capacity in Ohio.

As a result of collaborative efforts through the Ohio Manufacturing Alliance to Fight COVID-19, Governor DeWine announced that ROE Dental Laboratory in Cleveland will manufacture up to 1 million testing swabs to support Ohio's testing efforts.

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services says it will update its website Friday to accept unemployment claims from self-employed Ohioans.

State Treasurer Sprague is executing negotiated demand deposits with approved Ohio public depository institutions to expand balance sheet liquidity and make investments for the Ohio Treasury.

• The application form for a negotiated demand deposit can be downloaded at ohiotreasurer.gov/Financial_Institutions and submitted to deposits@tos.ohio.gov

Postal delays in some places could cause voters to not receive ballots in time for Tuesday’s vote-by-mail primary election wrap-up.

• Ballots must be postmarked by Monday or physically delivered by 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday for them to count.

Speaker of the House Larry Householder followed his earlier announcement on the staggered reopening of Ohio House offices with a second protocol around the holding of committee hearings which are to resume the week of May 4.

• According to the memo, only committee members and select staff will be present in the room.

• Witnesses, other staff and press are to stay in the overflow room -- "with appropriate social distancing."

• All hearings will be streamed on the Ohio Channel with many urged to follow the proceedings that way.

Under an order from the Ohio Supreme Court, the Ohio Ballot Board on Thursday certified a proposed constitutional amendment expanding voter access as a single state ballot issue.