BY OLIVIA SIMPSON AND MACKENZIE ZOBRIST

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced on April 27th that Ohio will launch their #ResponsibleRestart plan on May 1st. This includes a gradual opening of businesses in blocked phases.

As of April 28, the US has 988,469 confirmed cases. Hamilton County has 1,048 and 56 deaths. 

According to Infectious Disease Doctor Emily Simpson, the peak for Hamilton county occur sometime this week (April 26 – May 2). The peak names the day, for a state or country, where they see the greatest number of COVID patients, the amount of patients will most likely decrease following the peak. Authorities originally predicted it would happen in early May and now many believe it will be late April.    

Doctor Simpson credits this early peak to the efforts Ohio has taken. She said, “Mitigation efforts in Ohio and Hamilton County were pretty successful, so in response, the curve was flattened. So it has been a slower uptick, and the peak numbers have been downgraded.”

With efforts to return to normal life, Doctor Simpson warned that life will not be the same until there is a vaccine.

She said, “Things are going to look and feel different until there is an effective and widely available vaccine, which is probably going to be in a year. The hope is that we can move out of this intensive phase of social distancing to something that is more relaxed but accompanied by more testing, through detecting of active cases as well as trying to identify people that have antibodies to the virus.”

Here in Mariemont, Lisa Larkin and Associates has set up a testing station behind Graeter’s. They warn that the test can only tell if you’ve had the disease, but you can help others if you have the right antibody. There is a waitlist for testing, but they are willing to test anyone who thinks that they may have had COVID-19.

When you enter the testing center, you pull into an assigned spot and wait for the nurse to take your heart rate, oxygen levels, and blood pressure. Once she records everything, she disinfects your hand and pricks the finger. The blood is then tested, and you have answers within an hour.

If you have been infected and would like to donate your plasma click here.