Governor says COVID will likely get worse; said state is at "half-time"
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine started off the Tuesday press conference discussing where the state is headed.
The state has 1,447 new cases of confirmed COVID-19 cases, and the governor added that the numbers have gone up "dramatically" since July.
100 cases per 100,000 people are labeled as high incidence per county, and the number of Level 3/Red has increased throughout the state, including Mahoning and Trumbull counties.
In the last seven days, Ohio COVID-19 cases have averaged 1,475 cases per day by report date as compared to an average of approximately 1,000 cases per day only two weeks ago. Ohio's current positivity rate is 4.1 percent as compared to 2.7 percent on September 23 and 24. A total of 51 counties are considered high incidence and/or Alert Level 3 on Ohio's Public Health Advisory System.
The governor liked the number of cases and where we currently stand to "half-time," noting that things are likely to get worse before things get better.
"Things will get better, but in all likelihood, things will get worse before they get better. This virus is sneaky and cunning and won’t give up. It has a mind of its own," he added.
He said that winter may be a rough period for rate of spread, hospitalizations up, but DeWine said the virus can be controlled if the state focuses on its goals of eliminating the virus. He said ultimately the citizens can control the outcome if everyone does their part and hoped for a vaccine would soon be coming.
He said social distancing, wearing masks, washing hands will determine where the state heads for numbers and deaths for the coming months.
The governor said a goal is to keep businesses open, to keep job creation happening and the economy growing, and the key element is everyone following state guidelines to help to get through the difficult time.
"The virus only spreads with our help," DeWine said.
"We can do this. Wear mask when you are in any place where you will see others. The virus wants us to get complacent because it needs us to spread it," he added.
The governor also discussed vaccination of children have decline during the outbreak.
The governor said "There’s a danger that these diseases could easily spread if children aren’t vaccinated" against diseases like measles, chicken pox, whooping cough, and polio.
The other point brought up was that every Ohioan six months and up should receive a flu shot before the end of October by Dr. Chris Peltier of Cincinnati Childrens Hospital.
The governor discussed a new portal added Ohio COVID-19 website, the Lab Capacity Database provides self-reported information about labs that can run tests, including hours of operation, types of tests accepted, estimated turn-around time, and locations.
