As Ohio continues its response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Governor Mike DeWine is turning his attention toward hotspots, particularly at nursing homes in the state.
Those plans will begin this week with newly formed Congregate Care Unified Response Teams, in which medically trained members of the Ohio National Guard will be aiding in testing residents and staff members.
According to DeWine, the newly implemented plan will consist of two separate paths.
The first will see all staff in all Ohio nursing facilities tested in order to help nursing home administrators understand the status of the virus in their facilities help isolate the virus and help keep it from infecting their community. The second will see testing occur in facilities where residents or workers have confirmed or likely positive coronavirus cases. Testing in those circumstances will be conducted on all staff, while the testing of residents will be based on a clinically-driven strategy that targets those who have likely been exposed to the coronavirus.
Additionally on Tuesday, DeWine announced that Ohio will begin testing all residents and staff members of the state’s eight developmental centers. That testing will also be performed medically trained members of the state's national guard.
As of Tuesday, Ohio has had 33,006 confirmed and probable positive coronavirus cases, including 5,579 hospitalizations, 1,450 ICU admissions and 2,002 deaths.