Jacob Myers

The Columbus Dispatch

COLUMBUS - At least 700 cases of the coronavirus have been reported in Ohio nursing homes and assisted-living facilities, but the state would not release the number of deaths related to the virus when asked for that number Wednesday.

No COVID-19 cases have been reported at facilities in Richland or Crawford counties.

Dr. Amy Acton, the director of the Ohio Department of Health, signed a statewide order Wednesday that requires nursing homes, assisted-living centers and facilities for people with developmental disabilities to notify the families of residents within 24 hours when there are positive COVID-19 cases in one of those facilities.

The order was announced Monday, and Acton signed it two days later after Gov. Mike DeWine said “lawyers got involved.”

Acton also said the Ohio Department of Health knew of 700 cases of coronavirus among residents in long-term-care facilities as of Wednesday’s 2 p.m. daily news briefing on the virus. But department spokeswoman Melanie Amato said the state would not disclose the number of nursing home deaths due to COVID-19.

Last week, Franklin County Public Health said that 13 employees and 13 residents in long-term-care facilities had tested positive for COVID-19. Three of them had died.

The data that the Ohio Department of Health released Wednesday evening include the name of the facility, county of the facility and a combined number of cases for employees and residents per facility. Those numbers are scheduled to be updated every Wednesday at 2 p.m. and posted to the state’s coronavirus webpage.

The issue of obtaining statewide data on coronavirus cases in nursing homes is a concern in many states. Many states and the federal government are not reporting numbers for cases in nursing homes. Through media reporting and local health agency reports, the latest tally by The Associated Press was 4,485 deaths nationwide in nursing homes.

As of Sunday, the best estimate about the number of residents of Ohio nursing homes and assisted-living facilities who have died from the virus was 40, most of which were in northeastern Ohio. The number is likely higher.

More than a month after DeWine banned visitors to nursing homes in Ohio in order to protect residents’ exposure to the virus, a lack of testing on a grand scale and a statewide database have shielded the public from knowing the true scope of the spread of the virus in the facilities.

“Families of long-term care residents have a right to know if individuals associated with where their loved one is are sick,” DeWine said Monday about the order Acton signed.

jmyers@dispatch.com

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