With the Labor Day weekend approaching, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has issued another warning regarding the effects that behavior could have on the state's coronavirus (COVID-19) trends.
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"What we do this fall will really determine what our fall is going to look like," DeWine said. "We've got a lot at stake. We've got kids back in school. We've got college kids back at school. We've got a lot of things going for us in Ohio and we do not want to turn back."
DeWine went on to note that it's not necessarily where one goes, but what he or she does when they go there that determines their risk for contracting the coronavirus. While DeWine said that it's still OK to get outside and hike with close family members, taking part in parties -- especially without wearing a mask -- could make one more susceptible to becoming infected.
DeWine's comments come amid a recent increase in the state's coronavirus cases. On Tuesday, Ohio reported 1,452 new coronavirus cases -- its most since July.
While DeWine has attributed the recent rise in coronavirus cases to the return of K-12 schools, as well as students returning to college campuses, he said that the holiday weekend potentially presents an even larger threat. Per DeWine, the Fourth of July weekend resulted in a coronavirus spike, which caught the attention of officials at both the local and national level.
"What we saw over the Fourth of July was a rather dramatic uptick in travel and people getting together," DeWine said. "As a result of that in some days and weeks after that, we began seeing the uptick again in the number of cases. So Labor Day is coming. The White House has been very clear about the dangers that we face on this Labor Day weekend."