COLUMBUS, OHIO – The state of Ohio has announced a new COVID-19 retail tracking dashboard that literally reports on how many people are wearing masks while shopping. Last week, state officials actually visited 230 retail establishments and counted how many people wore masks and began issuing violations. The good news is, 93% of the people wear masks. The bad news is, state officials are being paid to watch you and track you.
According to the sate, retail locations will be inspected by the Retail Compliance Unit ensuring that businesses are following the Ohio Department of Health Retail and Business Compliance for Facial Coverings with the goal of helping to keep businesses open and safe for customers and employees. For a first violation, a retailer will receive a warning. For repeat violations, the business will be required to immediately close to the public for up to 24 hours to allow any airborne COVID-19 droplets to dissipate. All businesses are required to provide information, allow access to and permit inspection of public areas during all business hours, and cooperate with inspectors. The data will be collected by investigators and shared weekly.
In the first month of counting in November, state officials counted 21,053 Ohioans wearing masks, 7,069 employees wearing masks and 661 businesses with proper state-approved signage warning of the deadly COVID-19 virus.
Governor DeWine announced that Ohio’s Retail Compliance Unit Dashboard is now available online at coronavirus.ohio.gov.
The new dashboard includes information on the number of retailers visited by agents, how many customers and employees were properly wearing masks, how many establishments had proper signage, and the number of warnings issued. The dashboard will be updated each Thursday.
The Retail Compliance Unit was created within the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation to help keep businesses open and safe for customers and employees.