COLUMBUS, Ohio)—Ohio Governor Mike DeWine today provided the following updates on Ohio's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Today, Governor DeWine announced that the state emergency in Ohio caused by the COVID-19 pandemic will be lifted on Friday. He urged those who have not yet received the vaccine to find a clinic near them by visiting gettheshot.coronavirus.ohio.gov.

Governor DeWine also released new information regarding visitation to nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

Beginning tomorrow, the state regulations which describe how visits should occur will be removed. This will allow residents to have more than two visitors, and there is no longer a scheduling requirement. Ohio nursing homes are expected to continue to follow federal guidance from the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and both nursing homes and assisted living facilities will be expected to follow CDC guidance. A testing requirement still remains for staff members who are unvaccinated, and they will need to continue to be tested twice per week.

The Ohio Department of Aging will be hosting a series of webinars starting tomorrow morning to ensure facilities have access to all the information and resources necessary for safe and healthy operations. More information about these webinars can be found on the department’s website ataging.ohio.gov.

WOLSTEIN CENTER MASS VACCINATION CLINIC WRAP-UP

Governor DeWine announced today that the team at Ohio’s Mass Vaccination Clinic in Cleveland administered approximately 258,000 doses of vaccine during the course of the 12-week clinic at Cleveland State University’s Wolstein Center. The FEMA-supported clinic was open 12 hours a day, 7 days a week from mid-March until its final day of operations on June 7, 2021.

Across the entirety of the clinic, nearly 50 percent of individuals vaccinated reported living in high social vulnerability zip codes. Over the final six weeks of the clinic, that percentage was 68 percent.

The clinic operated in partnership among several local, state, and federal agencies including the Ohio Department of Health, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Ohio Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Department of Defense, Ohio National Guard, City of Cleveland, Cleveland Health Department, Cuyahoga County, Cuyahoga County Board of Health, Cleveland State University, Cleveland Clinic, MetroHealth, University Hospitals, and Discount Drug Mart.

OHIO VAX-A-MILLION

For yesterday's Ohio Vax-a-Million drawing, 3,428,514 vaccinated adults entered for a chance to win $1 million and 150,187 vaccinated youth entered for a chance to win a college scholarship. This is an increase in 66,311 adult entries and 6,583 youth entries over last week.

Ohio Vax-A-Million's newest winners joined Governor DeWine this morning to discuss why they chose to be vaccinated and their excitement of being selected during this week's drawing.

Suzanne Ward from Findlay in Hancock County won this week's $1 million prize, and Sean Horning from Cincinnati won this week's college scholarship prize.

"I did not have any hesitation when my age group came up to get vaccinated," said Ward. "I would encourage anybody to get vaccinated. I think it's the smart thing to do from a health perspective."

"I always knew it was the best for everyone," said Lina Horning, who is Sean's mother and experienced having COVID-19. "I encouraged my son to do it for the safety of our community and everyone."

There is one more Ohio Vax-a-Million drawing left and Governor DeWine encouraged all eligible Ohioans to get vaccinated and enter to win. For more information and to enter, visit ohiovaxamillion.com. Ohioans 18 and older who have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine can enter to win a $1 million prize. Ohioans ages 12-17 who have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine can enter to win a four-year college scholarship to any Ohio state college or university.

CASE DATA/VACCINE INFORMATION

In-depth COVID-19 data for Ohio: coronavirus.ohio.gov.

Ohio's central scheduling system: gettheshot.coronavirus.ohio.gov

Ohio mass vaccination information: coronavirus.ohio.gov/massvaccinationclinics

All vaccine providers: vaccine.coronavirus.ohio.gov

More vaccine information: coronavirus.ohio.gov/vaccine

Video of today's full update, including versions with foreign language translation, 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.

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