COVID-19 Pandemic Archives

Ohio Restaurant Association to Laud Husted for COVID Work at Virtual Awards Ceremony

July 13, 2021July 12, 2021 Brian Ball

The trade association representing Ohio’s restaurant industry will recognize Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted as its Outstanding Public Official in fashioning COVID-19 policy at the onslaught of the pandemic 16 months ago.

Ohio Restaurant Association President and CEO John Barker credited Husted for working with an industry group formed to create an effective response to the crisis with state health advisers and others that maximized the flow of food to the public in the initial weeks and formulating a policy allowing further opening two months later.

Cities in Red States Show Best Economic Recovery from the Pandemic

July 8, 2021July 7, 2021 The Center Square

As the country continues to climb back from more than a year of an economic downward spiral during the COVID-19 pandemic, cities in states with Republican-led governors that imposed fewer restrictions are experiencing a faster and more robust comeback.

A study by WalletHub ranked the top 180 cities in the country to determine where economic recovery is occurring.

Commentary: Combating Global Food Insecurity

June 13, 2021June 12, 2021 Ohio Star Staff

As COVID-19, violent conflicts, and natural disasters persist around the world, an increasing number of people face an additional crisis: food insecurity. Although food insecurity existed in many low- and middle-income countries prior to 2020, it is clear that the COVID-19 pandemic has escalated this global challenge.

Today, according to the United Nations World Food Program Live Hunger Map, an estimated 870 million people live on insufficient food consumption. This figure has increased since 2019, when an estimated 821 million people did not get enough food to eat.

Within the 79 countries in which the World Food Program operates, the number of people suffering from acute malnutrition or worse has doubled to 270 million people since 2019.

Ohio Bill Would Prevent Gun Seizures During Emergencies

May 28, 2021May 27, 2021 Cooper Moran

Two Ohio state legislators have introduced a bill that would prevent state and local governments from attempting to seize guns or close gun stores or ranges during declared emergencies.

When introducing the proposal, State Senator Tim Schaffer (R-Lancaster) and State Representative Scott Wiggam (R-Wayne County) pointed to shutdowns of gun stores in Michigan throughout the coronavirus pandemic as the source of inspiration for the bill.

Commentary: Will the 2020 Madness Last?

May 28, 2021May 27, 2021 Ohio Star Staff

The COVID-19 pandemic is ending with mass vaccinations. So is the national quarantine. The riots, arson, and looting of the 2020 summer are sputtering out—leaving violent crime in their wake.

The acrimony over the 2020 election fades. Trump Derangement Syndrome became abstract when Donald Trump left office and was ostracized from social media.

Biden Admin Considers Changing Trump’s Pandemic Border Closures to Allow ‘Vulnerable’ Migrants into US: Report

May 7, 2021May 6, 2021 Ohio Star Staff

The Biden administration is reportedly considering changes to a Trump-era public health order that allows for asylum-seeking migrants to be rapidly expelled to their country of origin, BuzzFeed News reported Wednesday.

The Biden administration’s unofficial plan could grant humanitarian exceptions to some migrants allowing them to enter the U.S. regardless of former President Donald Trump’s implementation of Title 42, a public health order issued in response to the COVID-19 pandemic allowing officials to expel migrants at the southern border, BuzzFeed reported.

Emails Show Scientists Scrubbed Early Warning of Potential Lab Origin of COVID-19

March 17, 2021March 16, 2021 Ohio Star Staff

Emails obtained through an open records request show that several top scientists declined in an early statement about the origins of SARS-Cov-2 to acknowledge the possibility that the virus had escaped from a lab, a scenario that many disease experts still consider highly plausible.

In February of 2020, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy directed the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to “rapidly examine the information and data needed to help determine the origins of the novel coronavirus that is causing a global outbreak of respiratory illness.”

WHO Study Finds Remdesivir Didn’t Help COVID-19 Patients

October 17, 2020October 16, 2020 The Associated Press

A large study led by the World Health Organization suggests that the antiviral drug remdesivir did not help hospitalized COVID-19 patients, in contrast to an earlier study that made the medicine a standard of care in the United States and many other countries.

The results announced Friday do not negate the previous ones, and the WHO study was not as rigorous as the earlier one led by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. But they add to concerns about how much value the pricey drug gives because none of the studies have found it can improve survival.

WHO Official Warns Against Coronavirus Lockdowns

October 14, 2020October 13, 2020 Ohio Star Staff

A World Health Organization (WHO) official urged world leaders this week to stop “using lockdowns as your primary control method” to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, The Daily Caller reports.

The statement has prompted questions about whether the WHO has backflipped on its advice, after they previously advised against lifting lockdown restrictions too quickly. Back in June, Dr. Michael Ryan, executive director of WHO’s Health Emergencies Program, explained, “We all want to avoid whole countries going back into total lockdown, that is not a desire anybody has,” continuing, “But there may be situations in which that is the only option.”

Commentary: Pelosi Holds Millions of Small Businesses Hostage While Working Families Struggle

September 30, 2020September 29, 2020 Ohio Star Staff

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when a lot less was known about the virus and how to counter it, and while the nation was still ramping up production of testing and hospital resources including ventilators needed, 25 million jobs were lost across the country, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

Since labor markets bottomed in April, 13.8 million jobs have been recovered, as states have begun steadily reopening in the months since.

Ohio Unemployment Tops 1.1 Million in Seven Weeks Due to Coronavirus Pandemic

May 8, 2020May 7, 2020 Samantha Witwer

The state of Ohio has more than 1.1 million people who have filed unemployment claims in the past seven weeks as Ohio’s stay-at-home led to widespread layoffs – which has more than the combined total for the last three years – the US Department of Labor reported Thursday.

State House Speaker Householder Expresses ‘Tremendous Frustration’ with Gov. DeWine’s ‘Restart Ohio’ Plan

April 29, 2020April 29, 2020 Samantha Witwer

Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder (R-Glenford) expressed sharp criticism on Monday for Governor Mike DeWine’s plans to reopen the economy during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic over what he called an “unwillingness to recognize” the needs of small business.

Ohio State Controlling Board Splits $90 Million in Federal Funds: 10 Percent to Ohio Department of Health and 90 Percent to ‘Rural Transportation’

April 23, 2020April 22, 2020 Samantha Witwer

The state Controlling Board voted to split $90 million of federal taxpayer money aimed to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic between the Ohio Health Department – which will receive $8.5 million – and rural transportation departments across the state, which will receive the balance of $81.5 million to “aid for rural transportation systems,” according to a statement released by Democrats Monday.

“We need to ensure health care workers and officials on the ground have the tools they need to detect, track and contain this virus before we begin to reopen our state. This funding is a step in the right direction to get us where we need to be, but we’re not there yet,” said Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes (D-Akron).

Steve Bannon: The Chinese Communist Party is the Enemy of the United States, the Chinese People, and All of Mankind

April 21, 2020April 20, 2020 Julie Carr

On Monday’s Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy was joined on the newsmakers line by War Room Pandemic host Steve Bannon to discuss the timeline of Communist China’s coverup of the coronavirus.

Commentary: Postcards from the Pandemic Show Good Faith Frays

April 19, 2020April 18, 2020 Ohio Star Staff

At the onset of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the public was willing to give the benefit of the doubt to the appropriate medical, public health, and government authorities. The public trusted these pandemic policymakers would use solid scientific evidence as the basis to implement the reasonable measures needed to “flatten the curve” and protect the public health.