COVID-19

Updated: 4:32 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2020

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine celebrated the next phase of the state’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout on Tuesday, broadcasting the inoculation of several seniors during his twice-weekly pandemic update.   

The state launched Phase 1B of vaccine distribution Tuesday, and Ohioans age 80 and older are first in line. People in that age group make up more than half of the COVID-19 deaths in the state.

Next week, Ohioans age 75 and up will be eligible.

Updated 5:06 p.m. ET

On Friday afternoon, President-Elect Joe Biden shared a detailed plan to tackle the COVID-19 vaccination rollout, promising to fight the pandemic with "the full strength of the federal government."

In a speech in Delaware, Biden laid out his five-part plan for how to speed up the vaccination campaign: Open up vaccine eligibility to more people; create more vaccination sites; increase vaccine supply; hire a vaccination workforce; and launch a large-scale public education campaign.

Americans are being more careful to avoid catching and spreading the coronavirus but are still not being careful enough to slow the pandemic, especially with worrisome, apparently more contagious new variants looming.

That's the conclusion of the latest findings, released Friday, from the largest national survey tracking behavior during the coronavirus pandemic.

Angela Smith can’t access her email – she has no computer, no tablet, no high-cost data plan and the library’s closed.

Smith, 48, is taking care of her 74-year-old mother, Minnie, in the Cedar Extension High-Rise senior apartments on East 30th Street, a Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority building just down the street from Cleveland’s main post office. 

Angela has Type 2 diabetes and Minnie has rheumatoid arthritis in her hands, feet and hips. 

Updated at 8 pm ET

President-elect Joe Biden has long pledged he would deliver an aggressive plan to address the raging coronavirus pandemic and the painful recession it spawned.

On Thursday, he did just that, proposing an ambitious $1.9 trillion relief plan that includes $1,400 stimulus checks, additional benefits for the unemployed, as well hundreds of billions of dollars for struggling businesses and local governments.

Updated at 8:37 p.m.

President-elect Joe Biden outlined his plans for economic relief from the coronavirus crisis on Thursday, citing the need for a more robust vaccination plan as well as for additional direct payments to American families to help recover the U.S. economy. His plan, called the American Rescue Plan, is expected to cost $1.9 trillion.

Ohio hasn't seen a "dramatic surge" in new COVID-19 cases related to the holidays, according to the governor. But Mike DeWine says there has been an upswing. Hamilton County is now at "purple," the highest level on the state's color coded map tracking several different benchmarks. 

At 8 a.m. Friday, Ohioans can go to Coronavirus.Ohio.gov and search by county or zip code to find a location that is offering the vaccine for COVID-19, Gov. Mike DeWine announced during a Thursday briefing.

As COVID-19 deaths and illnesses mount, essential workers — who are denied the chance to work from home — are struggling to stay safe. And it's far from clear whether the federal government is doing enough to protect them, according to a former top federal workplace safety official.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration official, Deborah Berkowitz, said the Trump administration has neglected COVID-19 safety at meatpacking plants and many other workplaces.

Vaccine distribution within Hamilton County has been slow, mainly due to the amount of vaccines the county has received.

Hamilton County Public Health receives roughly 500 doses each week. Hamilton County Commissioner Denise Driehaus said the county doesn’t have enough COVID-19 vaccines to finish Phase 1A of the state's vaccine distribution plan.

Beating back the pandemic may come down to simple math: getting enough people vaccinated.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, says the country will likely need a vaccination level of between 70% and 90% to reach herd immunity.