COVID-19 reporting

The statewide average of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents has decreased from 200 to just over 186 this week; the Akron Public School Board has selected to Christine Fowler-Mack for superintendent; Akron mayor Dan Horrigan is joining a group of other mayors and the organization Everytown for Gun Safety in calling on the U.S. Senate to take up two bills the House passed last month; and more stories.

As COVID-19 cases level off, Gov. DeWine may switch approach to lift restrictions; Summit County Public Health is scaling back its mass vaccination clinic at the county fairground due to decreasing demand; Black leaders are expressing outrage over the Columbus police shooting of 16-year old Ma’Khia Bryant; and more stories.

Ohio reported just over 1,000 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, nearly half the 21-day average; authorities say a drive-by shooting at a Columbus memorial vigil killed a passing driver and wounded five people in the crowd, including a 12-year-old child; a western Cleveland suburb has removed the basketball hoops from a city park that police say are part of an investigation into a recent shooting; and more stories.

Gov. Mike DeWine has paused the use of of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine after rare blood clots were reported in six people who received the one-shot vacinne. The Ohio Supreme Court has agreed to fast-track a ruling in the case pitting the Stark County Board of Elections against the county’s commissioners over the purchase of Dominion voting machines; despite Gov. Mike DeWine promising last April to disclose the number of Ohio doctors, nurses and other health care workers who became infected with COVID-19, the Ohio Department of Health says it will not release that information; the Beacon Journal reports that some people expressed confusion over Gov. Mike DeWine’s decision to cancel the previous mask mandate, and reissue it Friday as part of a consolidated health order; and more stories.

The state reported more than 1,800 new COVID-19 cases Sunday; Ohio could soon join the Republican-led states that have enacted tougher voting restrictions; after last year’s concert series was cancelled due to the pandemic, the Cleveland Orchestra announced it will return to Blossom this summer for a 10-week season featuring 11 concerts; and more stories.

Progress toward lifting all health restrictions in Ohio has stalled as COVID transmission rates remain stubbornly high; registration is underway for the mass vaccination site at the Summit County Fairgrounds, which opens Saturday; Akron-based First Energy says it will reimburse $26 million to its Ohio ratepayers; and more stories.

Gov. Mike DeWine says he’ll lift the mask mandates and other health orders when Ohio’s coronavirus cases drop to 50 cases per 100,000 Ohioans over a two-week period. But why was that metric chosen and how is it being determined?

An outdated reporting system that led to the undercount of more than 4,200 COVID-19 deaths in Ohio will now be retired; two new health orders are now in effect that relax rules for Ohio professional and youth sports as well as wedding and entertainment venues; an Akron-based call center is closing, eliminating 150 jobs; and more stories.

The Ohio Department of Health has expanded the number of maps illustrating the surge in coronavirus cases.

Four northeast Ohio counties have been taken off purple alert while Richland remains; COVID-19 continues to surge in Ohio's nursing homes as some facilities begin administering the vaccine; a Hudson lawmaker is among the growing number in quarantine or sick with COVID-19; and more stories.