State extends stay-at-home and essential business orders through May 1 (VIDEO)

This story has been edited to reflect the following correction: Frank C. Sullivan is the CEO of RPM International. Gov. Mike DeWine announced in his daily update that the health department will extend orders that close non-essential businesses and require most residents to stay at home unless engaged in some essential work or activity. The new rules will take effect Monday, when the original order was set to expire. The new order includes increased restriction on the occupancy of essential businesses, including grocery stores. Grocers and other retailers will be required to set and enforce occupancy levels for the people they believe can safety be in the building at one time, and to devise a way to observe the required 6-foot physical distance to separate people who are waiting to enter. He said the state encourages employers to allow employees to wear homemade masks that many people are making, and then held up samples. A Dispute Resolution Committee will be formed to handle complaints related to businesses thought to be in violation of the order. Lt. Jon Husted said the group's decisions will be final and that the rulings will be assessable to the public, "Because we don't have people meeting in person these days." The new order will include a 14-day self quarantine for people returning to Ohio from other states, with exceptions for people who commute from Ohio across state borders to work. Ohio is reporting 2,902 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 81 deaths in 75 of 88 counties, up from 65 overnight. Lorain County Public Health is reporting 90 confirmed cases, two deaths and one person is listed as recovered. Medina County is reporting 68 confirmed cases, including a Medina police officer, and one death. Dr. Amy Acton expanded on her previous day's discussion about how long the disease might last after an expected mid-May peak. "It won't be one day and it just falls away," she said. "The time coming out of it could take us well into June." DeWine said he would tell Ohioans who are frustrated that he's frustrated too. "My goal for all Ohioans is that we make it, that we live through this." I'm sorry," he said. "I wish it wasn't like this." Despite the seriousness of the briefings, the governor usually includes a bit of good news from residents in each broadcast. This briefing began with a video of Girl Scouts distributing donated cookies to truckers at the Amherst Turnpike Plaza and ended with singing ODOT worker Lee Baxter singing "God Bless the USA," both are included in the embedded video. Other highlights The state has launched a web page for people looking for work that focuses on employment with essential businesses, coronavirus.ohio.gov/jobsearch. An economic advisory board is being formed, and will have a web page on to the coronavirus.ohio.gov site. It will be headed by Frank C. Sullivan, CEO of RPM International. DeWine is urging hospitals to contact Battelle Labs to take advantage of machines that can sterilize N95 masks that are in short supply. The new process, which won FDA approval earlier this week, can clean up to 160,000 pieces of the personal protective equipment each day. A survey will be sent to Ohioans holding licenses in medical and first response specialties to identify people who have recently retired or are in an elective fields, who could be deployed to help increase the number of available healthcare workers and first response personnel. Guidelines for potential universal do not resuscitate policies are being discussed at the Centers for Disease Control and the Ohio Hospital Association. The state public-private partnership repurposingproject.com received 600 contacts to its webpage in its first day. The site calls out to manufacturers who could change operations to create or donate much-needed PPE equipment.