COLUMBUS, Ohio — We're just nine days away from when Gov. Mike DeWine says Ohio will begin slowly restarting its economy after almost completely shutting it down in an effort to stop the spread of coronavirus.
The governor has offered clues as to how things might look for the initial phase on May 1, but so far has yet to roll out a detailed plan, citing his administration is "just not quite ready." However, it doesn't look like we'll have to wait much longer.
"We're working on it, and we'll have that announcement on Monday," DeWine said at his Thursday press briefing. "We're trying to get this right."
DeWine says a major factor will be how the state can increase its testing capacity, and he has teased some "good news" about that specific topic to come on Friday. Overall, the situation remains fluid.
"This is a virus and a situation that is constantly changing," the governor said. "As the virus changes [and] the impact of it changes, we have to assess things and try to use the best available data that we can."
In preliminary discussions about Ohio's reopening, DeWine has said the guidelines will mirror those put forth by President Donald Trump and the CDC, although there will be different elements that are designed "by Ohioans, for Ohioans." In "Phase 1" of the federal guidelines, only certain types of businesses will be allowed to reopen, and even then they must adhere to strict social distancing parameters.
"These are significant decisions that impact people's lives both from a health point of view and from an economic point of view," DeWine said, "[We're] trying to balance those in a way that allows us to continue to move forward and do it in a way that we're not going to have to turn around and go back."
Re-watch DeWine's full remarks from today in the player below: