DeWine on Monday closed more gathering places across Ohio and said he would file a lawsuit in an attempt to delay Tuesday’s primary Election Day.

More gathering places in Ohio will close due to the coronavirus outbreak following action by Gov. Mike DeWine’s office on Monday.

Those new developments came as the U.S. economy shuddered to a halt, with the Dow Jones industrial average plummeting nearly 3,000 points, or 13%, its biggest one-day fall in decades.

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The number of infections in the U.S. climbed to about 3,800, with at least 70 deaths, nearly two-thirds of them in hard-hit Washington state.

There are no deaths reported so far in Ohio, where 50 people have been diagnosed with the coronavirus, the state reported Monday. A week ago, just three cases had been confirmed.

Three of the 50 cases are in Franklin County. Cases have been confirmed in 12 different Ohio counties, and 14 people have been hospitalized with COVID-19, according to the state.

>> Video: Recap of DeWine’s Monday press conference

There are 20 females and 30 males who have been diagnosed with the virus and they range in age from 14 to 86, said Dr. Amy Acton, director of the Ohio Department of Health.

In another step to stem the rising tide of cases, the state ordered fitness centers and gyms, bowling alleys, public recreation centers, movie theaters, water parks and trampoline parks to shutter at the close of business Monday.

DeWine had already closed bars, restaurants to in-person dining on Sunday and before that Ohio schools effective close of day on Monday.

The state also will now limit gatherings to less than 50 people, in accordance with guidance from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, DeWine said during his daily briefing about the status of the virus in Ohio.

President Trump, who had been downplaying the coronavirus impact, on Monday said he is now recommending that there be no gatherings of more than 10 people.

"We hope that Ohioans will follow this advice; just as with every other law or rule, you can’t enforce it every time ... We don’t have any experience with this. It’s a once-in-a-100-year crisis," DeWine said.

Here is the breakdown of counties with confirmed #COVID19 cases in #Ohio. pic.twitter.com/AF9KRJ6HP5

— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) March 16, 2020

On Sunday, DeWine ordered all bars and restaurants to close at 9 p.m. that night. Take-out, drive-through and delivery food options can continue, the governor said.

Lt. Gov. John Husted again on Monday encouraged people to get take-out and delivery food from restaurants, saying of the businesses, "we’ll want them to be there when we get through this."

Businesses should send their sick employees home, Husted said. Even if a business does not have paid sick leave, Husted said, Ohio employees will be eligible for unemployment benefits immediately.

"We understand the dramatic impact that these decisions have on real people and their daily lives," Husted said.

Local fitness and gym business owners said they would comply with DeWine’s latest orders but that the mandatory closures would hurt.

Thousands of members of the Power Shack Fitness Center will be affected by the sudden ordered closing, said Mitchell Davis, who is a manager. Power Shack Gyms are located in Hilliard, Grove City, Pickerington and Westerville.

"It hurts our staff members because this is how they pay their bills," Davis said.

Rich Lauro, owner of Beyond Limits Training, which has locations Downtown and in Reynoldsburg, said he felt a great sadness about the governor's announcement.

The recent shutdown of most of the activities with the recent Arnold Sports Festival a few weeks ago also hurt businesses like his, Lauro said.

"This is kind of like a double whammy," he said.

Lauro said he had been especially vigilant about cleaning the equipment, hoping he would be able to carry on.

Matt Lutz, general manager of AMF Sawmill Lanes, said his center has about 1,000 league bowlers now. Lutz said he employs about 30 mostly part-time workers.

Tim Voss, who has owned Sequoia Pro Lanes in the Northland area for 16 years, said the 32-lane center has been full with leagues. Now, that will stop.

Voss said he and other local bowling center operators will make a decision in two weeks to assess if they'll be ready to reopen, if they are allowed.

"Our business has been growing the past five years, actually. League bowling is making a great resurgence," he said.

On a related fitness development, the OhioHealth Capital City Half & Quarter Marathon was rescheduled Monday for Aug. 29 because of the gathering limits.

Testing capacity for coronavirus is largely centered around Ohio’s big cities, Acton said, which leaves open the likelihood that many people in the state may have COVID-19 but have not been tested.

"Everyone is sort of moving full-court press into this next stage, and we know that timing is everything ... If it is nonessential, you should not be doing it," Acton said, referencing a call with the White House and actions being taken by other states.

While many around the nation and Ohio have been waiting for COVID-19 testing to become readily available, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center has been quietly testing patients for the virus for more than a week.

Ohio State officials said the medical center began operating two outside testing centers on March 9. Patients can drive up to the centers in their vehicles and receive a virus test.

The motivation behind creating the outside testing centers is to prevent a surge of patients in the medical center’s emergency rooms. So far, university officials said it is working.

"This is a big tidal wave and we are just trying to stay in front of it," said Dr. Dan Bachmann, director of emergency preparedness for Wexner Medical Center and an emergency medical physician. "All of these patients at the external testing sites would have gone to the emergency room, and that would have been a significant surge to the system."

OSU officials declined to provide the exact location of the testing centers because they aren’t open to the general public. They also wouldn’t say exactly how many people have been tested.

But Bachmann said the testing has increased "tenfold" from when it first started until now. Between the two facilities dozens of patients are being tested.

Those receiving a test are patients of a health care provider connected to Wexner Medical Center and have called their primary doctor and described their medical condition. The next step is then contacting a call center that the medical center has set up to work with the testing centers. People at the call center then ask screening questions to determine if the person should receive a test.

Once testing is approved, the patient can drive to one of the facilities and don’t have to leave their car.

The test simply involves two swabs of a person’s nasal cavity and lasts about 30 seconds. Ohio State sends the tests to either a private lab or the Ohio Department of Health.

It takes about three days for the patient to receive their results, and until then they are told to distance themselves from everyone, including family members.

The two testing centers have been operating eight to 10 hours per day and stayed open through this past weekend.

As the need for testing grows, Bachmann said opening more outside testing facilities is a "very likely reality. Hours of operation also could be expanded.

Bachmann said people receiving tests have been thankful for access and the peace of mind that testing will provide.

"Occasionally you experience (someone with) anxiety, but for the most part people are courteous and appreciative of being taken care of," Bachmann said. "It’s hard to predict what is coming and we are reassessing every day how best to give people the care they need."

Several other institutions on Monday continued to adjust to the virus.

*The Roman Catholic Diocese in Columbus announced that it has decided to suspend all Masses through Easter, April 12, due to health risks. The decision was made in conjunction with other bishops in Ohio, and the obligation to attend was dispensed for all.

*The Central Ohio Transit Authority is maintaining service to the majority of its lines but reducing service starting Tuesday to the 71 Hilliard, 72 Tuttle and 73 Dublin lines. While children less than 48 inches tall always ride for free, those taller than 48 inches can now ride for free if they tell the driver they are heading for a meal at school locations

"We're going to evaluate it day by day," COTA spokesman Jeff Pullin said.

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