Coronavirus: 5 things Clark, Champaign residents need to know today

Here are five things Clark and Champaign residents need to know about COVID-19, or coronavirus today.

1. A Springfield memorial home and New Carlisle funeral home are giving back to the community through a gift card giveaway. Richards, Raff & Dunbar Memorial Home in Springfield and Trostel, Chapman, Dunbar & Fraley Funeral Home in New Carlisle are encouraging residents to nominate a first responder or health care professional for their hard work in the community. Nominations are open until April 21 and the winner will be selected on April 23.

RELATED: Clark County memorial, funeral homes host gift card giveaway

2. Money has began to flow into the accounts of some local small businesses as part of a new type of federal loan designed to help retain workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This comes as area banks have already seen hundreds of applications regarding the U.S. Small Business Administration's newly established Paycheck Protection Program. The loan is designed to be forgiven for small businesses that are able to retain their workforce by the end of the loan period. It is also set up to encourage those businesses to bring back employees who were temporarily laid off as a result of the pandemic.

RELATED: Clark County banks working to approve new SBA loans as funds run low

3. Ohio has seen more jobless claims in past month than previous two years. The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) reported 158,678 initial jobless claims for the week of April 11. The number of initial jobless claims filed in Ohio over the last four weeks stands at 855,197. The latest national unemployment claims numbers show continued economic pain, with 5.2 million more people filing for benefits.

RELATED: 5.2 million more people file for unemployment benefits

4. Banks and credit unions saw a surge in web traffic as people checked on whether their checks from the federal stimulus plan were deposited. Numerous complaints were reported from people saying they could not check their online accounts, and some banks reported temporary issues with some of their apps and phone lines.

RELATED: Coronavirus: Stimulus checks overwhelm bank, credit union websites

5. The first state prison inmate to die of COVID-19 was raised in Springfield. Charles Viney Jr., 66, died from coronavirus on Saturday. He was a prisoner at the Pickaway Correctional Institution, where this week two more inmates likely died of COVID-19, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Wednesday.

RELATED: Coronavirus: First Ohio inmate to die grew up in area

About the Author