ODH Officially Moves Statewide Curfew!

As previously reported, Governor Mike DeWine has been considering lifting Ohio’s statewide curfew. However, the potential for change has been based on the steady decrease in COVID-19 related hospitalizations.

Thanks to a slow decline, Governor DeWine and the Ohio Department of Health have pushed back the curfew to 11p.m. starting today!

The number of hospitalizations has stayed under 3,500 for a full week which has opened the door for changes to the months-long curfew. The Health Director, Stephanie McCloud with the Ohio Department of Health signed the health order Wednesday.

The curfew originally began November 19th and kicked off at 10 p.m. until 5 a.m. The new curfew will last through February 11th with more changes on the horizon, pending our numbers continue to decline.

Phasing out the curfew completely will happen under the following guidelines:

• After seven straight days of hospitalizations below 3,500, the curfew will begin at 11 p.m. and run at least two weeks
• After seven straight days of hospitalizations below 3,000, the curfew will begin at midnight and run at least two weeks
• After seven straight days of hospitalizations below 2,500, the curfew will end.

The order has not been easy to accommodate, especially for many local small businesses. Bars and restaurants have found it especially hard to make ends meet under these tight restrictions.

One of Governor DeWine’s main reasons for instituting the curfew was to keep the hospital system from becoming overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients.

Source: NBC4i