Columbus, Ohio –Ohio and Michigan have become the first states to close K-12 schools in response to the coronavirus outbreak, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine making the announcement yesterday.

The governor said at a press conference Thursday that Ohio's school children will have an extended spring break for three weeks beginning with the close of school on Monday, March 16, and tentatively ending April 3.

It applies to all public, private, voucher and charter schools in Ohio.

This follows a wealth of activity in response to the outbreak, including the Cleveland Cavaliers suspending its season, the cancellation of the St Patrick's Day parade in Cleveland that was scheduled for March 17, and the NCAA's cancellation of March Madness.

Earlier in the week the governor announced that the first three confirmed cases of coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, are residents of Cuyahoga County, which includes Cleveland.

Since then two more cases of the virus have popped up in Ohio, the latest case a 55-year-old man from Trumbull County.

There have been no fatalities in Ohio to date.

Treated at University Hospitals in Cleveland, none of the infected persons out of Cuyahoga County have been hospitalized, authorities have said.

The Ohio Department of Health predicts that more than 100,000 people in Ohio are carrying the virus as fears escalate relative to the ongoing crisis.

The outbreak of the virus has plagued China and Italy where thousands are dead, some 80, 815 in China, and 15, 113 in Italy.

CLEVELAND, Ohio. –Funeral services have been announced for Cleveland biker Lee "Shonuff" Dickson, the only fatality among 18 people shot during an anniversary event at a private club in Cleveland held March 7 by the Cleveland Chapter of the Omens Motorcycle Club on the city's largely Black east side at East 93rd Street and Way Avenue.

The wake is set for Sat., March 21, 2020 at 9:30 am at Mount Sinai Baptist Church on Woodland Avenue in Cleveland, followed by a 10 am funeral.

Services are entrusted to Lucas Memorial Chapel in Garfield Heights.

A representative for Lucas Memorial Chapel confirmed the aforementioned funeral arrangements and said the obituary for Dickson will not be published until the day of the funeral.

Aside from Dickson, 14 men and three women were shot,  the others with non-fatal injuries, an incident, said police, in which a group put out of the anniversary party returned later that night with gunfire, Dickson, 48 and a beloved community advocate who owned a mobile barber shop, an innocent by-stander who lost his life by no actions of his own.

Hundreds attended a vigil in Cleveland for Dickson on March 9.

A member of a rival motorcycle club in Cleveland purportedly bragged of the shooting prior to it happening.

Police said the shooting remains under investigation.

Cleveland activist Donna Walker-Brown, who led Monday's vigil and is also a member of the Omens Motorcycle Club, called the killing, "tragic and unprecedented."

Her sentiments were echoed by Ward 2 Councilman Kevin Bishop, an east side councilman who represents the area where the shooting occurred.

Bishop said he worries about "retaliation from motorcycle clubs in the area."

Dickson had no children and was never married.

Walker-Brown said that Dickson was well-regarded in the community and that it is a misnomer that bikers are traditionally violent, and members of a gang.

"It is a myth that bikers are a gang when in actuality we are a family and a tight-nit community," said Walker- Brown, who joined the Omens Motorcycle Club in 1999 but said she gave up her motorcycle three years later after she fell while riding.

"I have an association with the bikers but my involvement has taken a back seat to community activism, " said Walker- Brown. " Being a community activist and being a biker are two different worlds."

Walker-Brown said that some of the greater Cleveland bikers are community oriented and serve as funeral escorts, particularly for poor people having difficulty with funeral expenses of loved ones.

She said that they pass out candy for kids for Halloween, and that they routinely canvass the community to push voting, and hold vigils, including for the Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting.

The Sandy Hook Shooting occurred in December 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut when 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people, including 20 children between six and seven years old, and six adult staff members.

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog Tel: (216) 659-0473 and Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief, and who trained for 17 years at the Call and Post Newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview, CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.

WASHINGTON, D.C.-U.S. Rep. Marcia L. Fudge, a Warrensville Heights Democrat whose largely Black 11th congressional district includes Cleveland and several of its eastern suburbs of Cuyahoga County,  responded Monday after Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced that the first three confirmed cases of coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, are residents of Cuyahoga County.

Treated at University Hospitals in Cleveland, none of the infected persons at issue have been hospitalized, authorities have said.

“Today, the first three cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) were confirmed in the state of Ohio, all of which were identified in Cuyahoga County," said Rep Fudge, one of two Blacks in Congress from Ohio and a former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. "Thoughts are with the individuals and families impacted by COVID-19, and I am praying for their speedy recovery. "

A federal lawmaker since 2008, Fudge said that "as new details emerge regarding the impact of this disease on Ohioans, it is important for us to avoid panic, stay informed, and take basic precautions to keep the Northeast Ohio community healthy and safe."