COLUMBUS, Ohio - Governor Mike DeWine announced when daycares and child care facilities, as well as gyms and fitness centers, will be allowed to reopen. 

Beginning Sunday, May 31, childcare providers in the state will be able to reopen with reduced numbers of children in each classroom as well as intensified cleaning and handwashing practices.

"Moving forward, childcare is going to look different for children, parents and teachers as long as COVID-19 is around," said DeWine. "But we must get this right, or we run the risk of exposing more individuals."

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted announced more reopenings on Thursday, which includes day camps, campgrounds, non-contact sports and BMVs. 

Here is a date-by-date list of what this will look like:

Thursday, May 21

Campgrounds will reopen if safety protocols can be met. 

Indoor dining at restaurants can resume with precautions.

Friday, May 22

Horse racing can also take place as of Friday, May 22. 

However, spectators will be prohibited and this does not mean that racinos or casinos can reopen as a result. 

Tuesday, May 26

The state's BMVs will be able to reopen for certain services. 

Services that can be accomplished online should still be done online, according to the governor. 

Gyms and fitness centers, along with dance studios can reopen.

Non-contact sports can resume. 

Pools can also reopen if they are regulated by a local health department.

CDC officials said there is no evidence that the virus that causes COVID-19 can be spread to people through the water in pools, hot tubs, spas or water play areas. 

Proper operations and disinfection with chlorine /bromine should inactivate the virus, according to the CDC. 

Husted said water parks and amusement parks cannot reopen under this guidance. 

Sunday, May 31

Daycares, child care facilities and day camps for kids can reopen if following safety protocols.

 

DeWine also took the podium just one day before another group of businesses are allowed to reopen their doors.

Friday's list of reopenings includes outdoor dining at restaurants, personal care services such as hair and nail salons and sectors licensed by the State Medical Board.

That includes massage therapy and cosmetic therapy such as tattoos and piercings.

DeWine is requiring all employees in these businesses to wear masks and encourages all Ohioans going to those places to have them on as well.

However, dine-in services at restaurants are not allowed to reopen until May 21. 

Tuesday, retail and consumer services were allowed to reopen with some restrictions. 

Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton also responded to questions on a new mysterious, coronavirus-related illness in children that's claimed lives in New York and at least one life in Ohio.

She said the inflammatory response to battle the virus is happening in everyone that has it and officials are keeping an eye on it as they continue to research it. 

Dr. Juan Salazar, the physician-in-chief at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, said the rare condition often appears to present itself two to four weeks after a child has recovered from COVID-19, often without ever being diagnosed with the infection. 

In testimony Tuesday before a Senate committee on the administration’s coronavirus response, Dr. Anthony Fauci said children in general do better than adults and the elderly, but he warned there is still much to learn about the virus.

“For example right now, children presenting with COVID-19 who actually have a very strange inflammatory syndrome very similar to Kawasaki syndrome,” Fauci said. “I think we better be very careful that we are not cavalier in thinking that children are completely immune to the deleterious effects.”
 
Dr. Jeffrey Burns, a critical care specialist at Boston Children's Hospital, has been researching the condition and said his hypothesis is that the illness is caused by the immune response of the patient. 
 

This comes as cases in Ohio and across the Valley continue to rise as all these announcements are made and businesses are reopened.

Governor DeWine said the state has plateaued in the number of cases in the last three weeks, which is not right where they want to be yet, but they are not seeing the spike in cases that they thought would happen with increased reopenings. 

As for those still not back at work and trying to file for unemployment, the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services said more than 50,000 jobless claims have been filed across the state for the week ending on May 9. 

As school districts across the state juggle with the thought of whether to have in-school learning come fall, the Ohio Department of Education has released a draft plan for how schools could reopen then.