COLUMBUS, Ohio — As the state of Ohio continues experiencing a surge of COVID infections and overwhelmed hospitals amid the highly contagious omicron variant, state health officials provided a fresh update on the pandemic at a press conference.
You can rewatch the press conference in the video player above.
Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff led the press conference and was joined by the following people:
- Major General John C. Harris, Jr., Adjutant General, Ohio National Guard
- Daniel Bachmann, MD, Director of Emergency Preparedness and Emergency Physician, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
- Jennifer Wall Forrester, MD, Associate Chief Medical Officer and Infectious Disease Physician, UC Health
During the press conference, Dr. Vanderhoff confirmed that the Cleveland Clinic would receive help from 20 U.S. Air Force medical professionals to deal the ongoing surge. Earlier on Thursday, President Joe Biden announced his plan to send medical help to six hospitals in six states -- including the Cleveland Clinic.
In Ohio’s most recent data from 2 p.m. Wednesday, the state is reporting that 55.6 percent of the population is now considered fully vaccinated. Those hospitalized in Ohio with COVID is now at 6,637 with 1,221 in an ICU bed.
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Editor's note: Video in the player above was originally published in an unrelated article on Jan. 12, 2022.
