Nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and homes serving those with developmental disabilities may allow residents to have visitors inside the facilities beginning Monday, Oct. 12, Gov. Mike DeWine and Ohio Department of Aging Director Ursel McElroy said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, DeWine said at his Thursday briefing that he would veto SB311 (McColley-Roegner), which would allow the General Assembly to rescind public health orders, saying "the bill cannot become law."

After the COVID-19 pandemic appeared in Ohio and began spreading, the state ordered nursing and assisted living facilities to be closed to visitors. In June, the DeWine administration began allowing outdoor visitation at assisted living facilities and nursing homes were allowed to have outdoor visitation beginning in July.

DeWine said those restrictions were made to keep residents safe, but he said he understands that it has been hard on them.

Official guidance on indoor visitation is expected to be issued in the next few days, he said. In addition to indoor visitation, facilities will also be allowed to have communal activities such as dining and other group activities as long as safety and protocols are observed.

McElroy laid out some of the guidance for the facilities, including that all visitors will be required to wear a mask that is provided by the facility. All facilities will be required to create a written and transparent plan.

DeWine said it does not take effect until next month to give facilities time to plan and talk with families of residents.

DeWine also announced that intermediate care facilities for Ohioans with developmental disabilities can resume indoor visitation beginning on Monday, Sept. 28, if safety standards outlined in an order issued by the Ohio Department of Health are met.

In other coronavirus-related guidance, DeWine said his administration is now including a recommendation that all residential colleges and universities regularly test a sample of asymptomatic students.

"Some schools are already doing this, and screening asymptomatic students really gives school leaders a good idea about virus spread on their campuses," said DeWine. "Our expectation is that colleges and universities will screen at least 3 percent of their at-risk population on a regular basis."

He said the guidance will leave it up to schools on how to go about doing the testing.

DeWine also said he is working with the General Assembly to come up with additional funds to address mental health in the state because of the pandemic and is proposing some of the funds will go to K-12 schools. He said he hopes to announce more next week.

Lt. Gov. Jon Husted announced a change to the state's sports order that will allow teams to play more than one opponent on the same day, using a high school soccer team playing in a tournament as an example. Under the previous order, that team could only play one team on one day, and would have to wait until the next day to play another in the tournament, he said.

Asked about SB311 during questions from reporters, DeWine said, "Of course, I will veto the bill." It passed the Senate on Wednesday and would prohibit the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) from issuing a "general, mandatory statewide or regional quarantine or isolation order that applies to and is enforced against individuals who have not been either directly exposed to or medically diagnosed with a disease that is the subject of the order." (See The Hannah Report, 9/3/20.)

DeWine said SB311 would make it impossible for future governors and health departments to respond to a pandemic crisis. He used an example of a group of students traveling to Ohio at the beginning of the pandemic and said it would limit his ability to quarantine those visitors.

"This makes absolutely no sense," DeWine said. "If you play it out and look at all the scenarios, you cannot be defenseless. I will not leave Ohio defenseless from this kind of spread and attack."

DeWine and Husted also weighed in on a viral video of a woman who was tased and arrested at a high school game after she was asked to wear a mask and refused to leave when she did not comply. DeWine said everyone needs to remember that the virus is the enemy, not each other. He also said that while it may look bad, people should understand that the school and officer were trying to follow guidelines with a sole purpose of wanting kids to play sports.

Husted urged people to be civil towards each other and try to de-escalate situations like this, remembering that spectators at these games are there to support the kids.

According to new numbers released by the Ohio Department of Health and DeWine, there are now 147,744 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 in Ohio since the beginning of the pandemic, with an increase of 991 in the past 24 hours. DeWine said Thursday was the first day in a while where the 21-day average was below 1,000 new cases. He said the statistics and data had made his administration both optimistic and cautious.

Hospitalizations due to COVID-19 now exceed 15,000 since the pandemic began. Total hospitalizations are 15,051 -- an increase of 74 since Wednesday. Deaths total 4,715 -- an increase of 28 over the total reported on Wednesday.

DeWine also updated Ohio's Public Health Advisory System, with nine counties now in "Level 3" status with a very high risk of exposure in spread, up from four last week. The counties are Ashland, Butler, Delaware, Mercer, Montgomery, Pike, Putnam, Scioto, and Stark. Sixty-seven counties stayed at the same level as last week, and Portage County dropped from Level 3 to Level 2.