School sports details coming Tuesday

Gov. Mike DeWine said details for how middle and high school sports can start their fall seasons will be announced Tuesday.

DeWine said decisions about whether to resume sports will be made by parents and schools. He hinted that spectators outside of the students’ parents and close relatives won’t be allowed to watch games.

“This will be a little disruptive for some people but what we want to make sure is that the parents, people who mean a lot to that particular child have the opportunity to see them,” DeWine said.

– Jackie Borchardt

‘Racism is a public health crisis’

Gov. Mike DeWine said racism – systemic and overt – is responsible for some of the disparities in health, education and other areas among Black Ohioans.

“Racism is a public health crisis,” DeWine said. “This is something we have to work on every day.”

Resolutions declaring racism as a public health crisis have been introduced in the Ohio House and Senate.

DeWine announced a new panel, the Ohio Governor’s Equity Advisory Board, will continue to study how to improve equity in Ohio.

– Jackie Borchardt

Minority Health Strike Force report

A group convened to study health disparities among people of color in Ohio has released its final report, and Gov. Mike DeWine plans to implement changes based on the panel’s recomendations.

The report gives 24 recommendations on topics including dismantling racism, removing obstacles to public health and improving data collection to better understand disparities.

“We have to do better,” he said. “We can do better.”

African-Americans comprise about 14% of Ohio’s population but make up 24% of the state’s COVID-19 cases, 32% of hospitalizations and 19% of deaths. Latinos make up less than 4% of the state’s population but account for 6% of positive COVID-19 tests.

DeWine assembled the panel in April and its final report was due in June. Initial recommendations made in May included more testing in minority communities and better messaging to those communities about how to prevent spread of the virus.

DeWine said a new permanent group will continue to explore how to improve health and life outcomes for under-served populations in the state.

– Jackie Borchardt

Clermont County “red” again on COVID-19 heat map

Clermont County moved from orange to red on the state’s coronavirus heat map, indicating “very high exposure and spread.”

Clermont was designated red on the July 9 heat map after seeing an increase in new COVID-19 cases. Cases decreased in July and Clermont dropped down to orange two weeks ago.

Gov. Mike DeWine said increasing cases and a greater number of visits to the doctor or emergency rooms for COVID-19 care placed Clermont County back in the red category this week.

– Jackie Borchardt

Earlier reporting

COLUMBUS – Will high school students play sports this fall? Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine isn’t expected to answer that question today.

DeWine will again punt the discussion on what competitions and games will look like this fall. He’s expected to offer a timeline on when those decisions will be made, spokesman Dan Tierney said. 

But the clock is ticking as athletes prepare for possible games later this month.

Last week, the Ohio High School Athletic Association announced its plan to play a shortened football season, assuming DeWine signed off on the proposal.

The proposed plan included a six-game football season, starting the week of Aug. 24, with the state championship games played no later than Nov. 21. 

The day after that plan was released, the Mid-American Conference, which includes Miami University and other Ohio universities, canceled fall football. On Tuesday, the Big Ten Conference pushed its football season to 2021 and the Pac-12 followed suit.  

The question remains: If it’s not safe for Ohio State University to play football, is it safe for local high school programs with far fewer resources to do so?

There are arguments on both sides. High school athletes travel much less far than their college counterparts. There’s also a concern that if high school sports were shuttered, parents would take their children to club teams with much less monitoring and safety precautions.

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Still, Columbus City Schools announced on Thursday that it would suspend all sports and extracurricular activities effective Friday.

Some fall sports have already been approved for competitions between schools: cross country, golf, tennis and volleyball. Others are awaiting that approval: field hockey, soccer and football. 

All fall sports were permitted to begin practices this month.

DeWine said Tuesday that health orders for sports would be coming “shortly,” adding that there’s a good argument for moving forward with sports.

“Part of the argument for sports, that is I think a strong one, is first of all there’s a discipline to sports,” DeWine said. “Part of the discipline this year will have to be being safe.”

What is coming today: a new county-by-county map on the spread of the novel coronavirus. Last week, Hamilton County dropped from a Level 3 or red designation, which indicates very high exposure and spread of the virus, to a Level 2 or orange designation. 

DeWine called Hamilton County a success story last week for its commitment to wearing masks and taking other safety precautions. 

DeWine is expected to address how the virus has disproportionately affected Black and brown Ohioans – and what the state can do to help.

DeWine appointed a Minority Health Strike Force to tackle the issue on April 20. So far, the group has issued some recommendations and worked to improve testing access. 

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