Ohio State extends its state of emergency another week. Credit: Casey Cascaldo | Former Photo Editor
Ohio State’s state of emergency was extended to May 16, according to a Saturday universitywide email.
University President Michael V. Drake said in the email that the university will extend the state of emergency to May 16 due to COVID-19. The state of emergency, which was originally announced March 22 and is reviewed on a weekly basis, allows leaders at Ohio State to use Disaster Leave (Policy 6.28) and gives the university “flexibility in making a variety of financial decisions over an extended period if necessary,” the email said.
According to the email, some essential operations have resumed at the university, including some elective procedures at the Wexner Medical Center at Ohio State and “limited opening” of flight education at the university airport. Decisions for the opening of operations are reviewed by Gail Marsh, chair of the university’s post-pandemic operations task force and senior vice president and chief strategy officer for the university and the medical center, and Dr. Amy Fairchild, chair of the task force’s safe campus and scientific advisory subgroup and dean of the College of Public Health.
Updates from the task force will be made available on its recently launched website.
