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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 4, 2020 |
MEDIA CONTACTS: Dan Tierney: 614-644-0957 Breann Almos: 614-799-6480 |
COVID-19 Update: Testing Priority, Ohio BMVs
(COLUMBUS, Ohio)—Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, Lt. Governor Jon Husted, and Dr. Amy Acton, MD, MPH, today provided the following updates on Ohio’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
TESTING UPDATE:
Governor DeWine today provided an update on Ohio’s plan for increased COVID-19 testing.
A new partnership announced last week between the state of Ohio, Thermo Fisher, and ROE Dental Scientific will allow for a steady supply of testing reagent and swabs. With Ohio’s new increased testing capacity, Ohio will prioritize testing in the following categories: |
“It’s important to remember, that testing is only one response to this virus. It allows us to quickly identify individuals infected with COVID-19, promptly isolate them, and determine who they’ve been in close contact with to minimize the spread,” said Governor DeWine. “Increased testing capacity does not replace infection control and prevention practices such as social distancing, wearing a mask, washing your hands, and sanitizing high-touch surfaces.”
OHIO BUREAU OF MOTOR VEHICLES REOPENING PLAN:
Lt. Governor Jon Husted announced today that, although opening dates for individual locations have not yet been finalized, Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicle (BMV) deputy registrars around the state may begin reopening as early as later this month.
Upon reopening, every deputy registrar will offer online the Ohio BMV’s Get In Line, Online program that was launched by Governor DeWine and Lt. Governor Husted as a pilot project last year. A partnership between InnovateOhio and the Ohio BMV has been expanding the project to locations statewide. There are currently 48 deputy registrars that had been offering Get in Line, Online, and all other locations that had not yet offered the service will offer it to customers upon reopening.
“So far, this system has saved Ohioans nearly 9,000 hours of wait time,” said Lt. Governor Husted. “In order to reduce lines and the time each Ohioan has to physically spend in the BMV, we are working with InnovateOhio to expand the program throughout the state by the end of May so that every open BMV will offer this service.”
In preparation for reopening, deputy registrars are also reactivating and hiring staff, making accommodations to their facilities to ensure social distancing, and ensuring that safety measures are in place, such as cough/sneeze shields, at customer-facing workstations.
CURRENT OHIO DATA:
There are 20,474 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 in Ohio and 1,090 confirmed and probable COVID-19 deaths. A total of 3,809 people have been hospitalized, including 1,090 admissions to intensive care units. In-depth data can be accessed by visiting coronavirus.ohio.gov.
Video of today’s full update, including versions with foreign language closed captioning, can be viewed on the Ohio Channel’s YouTube page.
For more information on Ohio’s response to COVID-19, visit coronavirus.ohio.gov or call 1-833-4-ASK-ODH. |