Gov. Mike DeWine has urged Ohioans to take steps to slow the spread of the virus, reminding people to wear masks, avoid large gatherings, practice social distancing and wash their hands.
“We must get control of this. We are running out of time,” DeWine said Friday afternoon in Cincinnati.
Overall, since the start of the pandemic, Ohio has had 183,624 coronavirus cases.
The state is averaging 1,515 daily cases over the last 21 days.
Ohio’s positivity rate is also on the rise. On Sept. 20, the rate was 2.5%. But as of Oct. 17, the most recent date available, it had nearly doubled, standing at 4.9% with a seven-day average of 4.8%.
On Monday, 111 hospitalizations were reported, and Ohio had hit triple digits for three days in a row last week as well. There have been 17,172 hospitalizations connected to COVID-19 in Ohio since the pandemic began.
Of all the hospital beds in the state, 4.44% account for coronavirus patients and 64.7% are non-COVID patients. The remainder of beds are empty.
On Thursday, Gov. Mike DeWine reported that 65% of Ohioans live in a level 3, or red level, county. Twenty-nine counties, including Montgomery, Butler, Clark, Greene and Warren counties, are at level 3, and 52 counties have a high incidence of coronavirus, meaning there are more than 1,000 cases per 100,000 residents over the last two weeks.
“When you look at these numbers, this is the worst situation Ohio has been in,” the governor said.
DeWine’s stop in Cincinnati on Friday spoke to the high number of cases statewide, but he also took time to note the large number of those that are in southwest Ohio.
“This is spiraling out of control,” he said.
The governor has continued to plea with Ohioans to wear face masks, saying that if 85% of residents consistently wore them Ohio could “kick (coronavirus) in the head.”
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