As the weather turns colder and people move indoors, the virus is expected to spread. While praising Ohioans for sacrifices they’ve already made to keep the virus in check, DeWine warned that the pandemic likely will get worse before it gets better.
Ohio’s numbers continue to move in the wrong direction, the governor said, with 51 counties indicating widespread of the virus, increasing caseloads and an uptick in the percentage of tests that come back positive.
The Ohio Department of Health reported Tuesday 171,626 confirmed and probable coronavirus cases, including 16,565 hospitalizations and 5,017 confirmed and probable deaths since the pandemic began earlier this year. Ohio’s 21-day average daily case count has crept up to 1,227.
Today we are reporting 1,447 new cases. In the last seven days, our cases have averaged 1,475 cases per day by report date. To put this in perspective, we had been averaging a little over 1,000 cases per day only two weeks ago. pic.twitter.com/qMgYKPE6hZ
— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) October 13, 2020
The federal government purchased 150 million Abbott BinaxNOW tests — antigen tests that provide rapid results but are less accurate and precise than PCR tests. Ohio is working on a plan to deploy the tests to college campuses and nursing homes, DeWine said, so they can increase the frequency and speed of testing.
DeWine said Ohio is working on a plan for deploying vaccines as they become available in 2021. The first round will likely go to front line workers, he said.
As well child visits and childhood vaccination rates fell off during the shutdown, DeWine is urging parents to get their kids immunized against childhood diseases.
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