COVID-19: Changing Our Lives | April 8: Michigan golfers flock to Ohio
After Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer closed down courses late last month, golfers began heading south. Some Ohioans wonder if that's a good thing.
Brian Dugger
On Wednesday, Michigan surpassed 20,000 COVID-19 infections and will surpass 1,000 deaths on Thursday.
On the same day, the state's residents flooded into Ohio - to golf.
At the end of March, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered golf courses closed in the state. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine initially did the same, but the state agreed to reopen courses a week after they were temporarily shut down.
A concerned Ohio resident emailed me on Tuesday, saying that golf course lots were filled with Michigan plates. This afternoon I went to three different golf courses in the area. The first course had 41 Michigan plates out of about 100 in the lot. The second course was 24 out of 50 to 60 cars. Farther south, a course had seven out of 50 cars. That's 72 cars, or probably about 150 people.
During an interview with Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz last week, the mayor admitted being concerned about the explosion of cases in Ohio's northern neighbor, and he said that the city has discussed with DeWine the possibility of the state shutting down the border.
News of Michiganders flocking to Ohio to play golf has to be a concern.
Michigan's stay-at-home-order has been extended until the end of April. The order says residents can go to the grocery store, pharmacies, and to do essential business. It adds that outdoor exercise is also allowed, as long as people stay 6 feet apart.
On Wednesday, the number of cases in Michigan grew by 1,400, by 23 in Monroe County to Toledo's north.
Exercising is great during these unprecedented times. But plenty of Ohioans may be concerned about Michiganders doing it in Ohio.
Chapter 1 Keeping in touch
This is how my husband, Joshua Fox, says goodnight to two of our six children.
He has decided to self-isolate from his family because he is a corrections officer at the prison, and there is now a case of the virus there.
He may have to be behind a door to say goodnight, but it’s now our new normal for the time being. The kids love to get to see daddy any way they can.
- Ann Fox
WE NEED YOUR HELP
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NEWS OF THE DAY
- Ohio announces that a corrections officer at the Marion Correctional Institution has died from the virus. Several other officers are in isolation, as are several inmates.
- Bernie Sanders exits the presidential race, leaving Joe Biden as the presumptive favorite to face President Trump in November.
- New York reports 779 deaths, a single-day high, but the rate of infection only grows by 3 percent, signaling that the city is likely nearing a peak.
- Folk singer John Prine dies from the virus.