The Hancock Park District says their parks have been staying open during the coronavirus outbreak.

“We have been out on the trails seeing what’s up, and people are observing safe distances very well, even in the dog park at Riverbend people seem to be taking turns,” said marketing manager Anne Coburn Griffis.

She says there’s enough room on the trails that people can still enjoy them and observe the social distancing guidelines.

She says their parks are really coming alive now that spring is here and they can provide people with a nice stress reliever from all the coronavirus news.

Thursday was the first day of spring.

Click here to learn more about the Hancock Park District.

Governor DeWine in his Thursday coronavirus update asked Ohioans to show their patriotism and solidarity by displaying their American Flag.

“I’m asking Ohioans today to put their American flags out! We will get through this.”

He’s asking everyone to display their American Flag as a show of solidarity in defeating this hidden enemy.

As of Thursday, there were 119 confirmed cases in 24 counties. The closest to Hancock County is one case in Lucas County.

The governor said the rumors about the National Guard quarantining people in their homes, martial law, is not true.

“They are not involved in carrying weapons. You may see them carrying groceries.”

The governor says the grocery store supply chain is intact and it’s because of the excess demand that some items aren’t on the shelves.

“They can only go so fast, so if we crowd the stores, we create a problem for everyone else.”

The governor continues to remind people to wash their hands and to avoid contact with other people.

“Regarding shelter in place – we’ve already asked people to shelter in place if they can. We’ve asked people to stay home if they can. Some of this is just terminology. If there is no good reason to be out – stay home.”

A coronavirus testing center has been set up at Blanchard Valley Hospital. Get more on that here.

Hospitals are currently facing a severe blood shortage and donors are urgently needed.

The Red Cross says it has had to cancel thousands of blood drives due to the coronavirus threat.

“Across the country we have canceled more than 4,500 blood drives, resulting in 150,000 fewer pints,” said the Red Cross’ Christy Peters.

She says 16 blood drives have been canceled in northwest Ohio.

A blood drive was held on Thursday at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church on South Main Street in Findlay.

Donors had their temperature taken immediately to make sure they weren’t coming down with something.

If their temp was fine they were able to enter the blood drive where they went through additional screening before they were able to donate.

The beds are also being placed further apart and everything is getting thoroughly wiped down.

The Red Cross says it’s actually been seeing more donors at the blood drives they’ve had lately.

On Wednesday, a drive was held at Parkview Church in Findlay and more than 70 people donated, where typically that number would be 30-40.

And officials said the turnout on Thursday at St. Mark’s was good as well.

Click here to find a blood drive near you.

The Flood Warning for Eagle Creek in Findlay has been extended through Thursday night.

Minor flooding is occurring. Flood stage is 9 feet.

The creek was at 9.2 at 7am Thursday and was expected to reach 9.4 by late morning.

More rain Thursday night and Friday could cause the creek to swell even more.

The Blanchard River was at 8 feet at 9 am Thursday and was forecast to reach about 9.4 feet by Friday morning.

Flood stage of the Blanchard River is 11 feet.

Blanchard Valley Health System has established a coronavirus testing center at Blanchard Valley Hospital.

The “Triage and Testing Center” will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week for people experiencing symptoms of COVID-19.

People can call 419-423-7890 to initiate pre-screening efforts.

Symptoms of coronavirus include cough, shortness of breath, fatigue and fever of 100.4 degrees or greater.

According to Dr. William Kose, vice-president of special projects, Blanchard Valley Hospital nurses and laboratory personnel will be on-site to assist patients and conduct testing.

“We want to emphasize to the community that the COVID-19 testing is by appointment only,” Dr. Kose stated.

“We are working together to provide quicker and more convenient access to testing so we can better protect our community.”

For additional guidance during the COVID-19 pandemic, BVHS, Hancock Public Health, the City of Findlay and Hancock County leaders have developed the Hancock County Community Call Center at 419-425-9999.

Governor DeWine is asking businesses to take the temperature of their employees every day to make sure they’re not coming down with coronavirus.

“Businesses should do everything they can to monitor their workforce. We’re dead serious about employers taking temperatures. We’re expecting them to do this.”

The governor says they’re taking this one step at a time, but it they find that they can’t get employers to take temperatures, they’ll have to go to the next stage and close everything down unless it’s essential.

At his Wednesday update, it was announced that there were 88 confirmed cases in Ohio in 19 counties.

It’s odd to not see Main Street Deli in Findlay packed with people around the lunch hour.

But that’s been the case since the order from the governor banning restaurants from allowing inside dining.

Andrew says they’re busier than they thought they would be since they had to transition to only delivery and carry-out.

“We have a pretty strong following and dedicated customers, we had to iron out a few kinks, but I think it’s going pretty smoothly.”

He says their delivery drivers have been really busy and people are stopping by to pick up orders as well.

Andrew says customers should call 419-425-3354 or text 419-721-2850 to place an order.

“We’re encouraging people to call or text in their orders and I’ll meet them at the door.”

He says they were even thinking about going to only delivery and carry-out a few days before the governor’s order Sunday prohibiting inside dining.

Click here for a list of restaurants offering delivery and/or carry-out.

Hancock Public Health has initiated Incident Command Structure as it shifts all of its community resources to focus on the response to the coronavirus.

The number of confirmed cases in Ohio as of Wednesday was 88 – in 19 counties – the closest to Hancock County being one case in Lucas County.

Details are in the following news release.

Hancock Public Health (HPH) has been in Incident Command Structure (ICS) for the past week in order to be able to respond effectively to the COVID-19 virus as it impacts our community.

This means that we are in heightened communication with our local, state and national partners, and we are closely monitoring syndromic surveillance data through our Office of Epidemiology along with our partners including Blanchard Valley Health System. We will be keeping the community up-to-date through our Joint Information Center (JIC) which includes city and county government leadership, Blanchard Valley Health System and Hancock Public Health.

Hancock County Health Commissioner Karim Baroudi explains “In anticipation of the known community spread of COVID-19 in Ohio coming to Hancock County, we have enacted our ICS which allows us to shift all of our available community resources to focus on the COVID-19 response. It is important that the Hancock County community understands that we are prepared and we will continue to act in concert with our partners in a way that maximizes community safety and minimizes the impact on the capacity of our healthcare system so that we are able to treat all those in need. The measures that have been enacted by our governor will help to minimize the impact on our community and I want to stress to everyone not just the importance of complying with the orders, but to help your neighbors understand the importance of these measures to their own safety and that of their neighbors and loved ones.”

There is a lot of misinformation shared during global events and public health threats, especially on social media. Only trust verified information sources, such as the CDC (Centers for Disease Control), ODH (Ohio Department of Health), the governor’s office, your local health department, your local hospital and verified media. If you have questions about COVID-19, call 1.833.4ASKODH (1.833.427.5634) or visit www.coronavirus.ohio.gov.

A Hancock County Resource Call Center has been established through the collaborative JIC for local coronavirus information and will be available Monday to Friday from 9 am to 8 pm starting Wednesday, March 18. Please call the call center at 419.425.9999 for local coronavirus information.

The Ohio Democratic Party has filed a lawsuit to stop Secretary of State Frank LaRose from moving the primary to June 2nd following Tuesday’s election postponement.

In the filing, the party said such power rests only with the state legislature.

The lawsuit calls for the Supreme Court of Ohio to order “adequate” opportunities for Ohioans to vote via absentee ballot until April 28th.

Two separate suits were filed on Tuesday, which was the day Ohio had been scheduled to hold its primary election.

One lawsuit from the Democrats wants to hold the absentee-ballot election while a second suit filed by Republicans says the primary came and went and should be tallied only with early voting ballots already cast.

State health officials postponed the primary over concerns of the spread of the coronavirus with Secretary of State Frank LaRose working to reschedule the vote for June 2nd.

A newly released simulation of the March Madness tournament puts Dayton and Ohio State in the Final Four and has the Buckeyes winning it all.

The Washington Post ran a simulated March Madness using advanced analytics and statistics with OSU as a fifth seed in the Midwest and Dayton as the one seed in the East.

Both teams advanced through their regions to the Final Four, where the Buckeyes defeated the Flyers 80-64 in the semi-final and then took down the Baylor Bears the Championship Game for the title.

Despite only being a simulation, The Ohio State Hoops Twitter celebrated the victory with a unique Simulated Championship Banner graphic.

(picture courtesy of Columbus Wired)