With the new year approaching, many Ohio employers have made plans to have employees return to the workplace -- if they haven't already.
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But with the state's coronavirus (COVID-19) numbers continuing to surge, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine is asking all employees who can work remotely to continue to do so, including state employees.
As DeWine noted, state employees were originally scheduled to resume working in the office again beginning in early-January. The state, however, has since put those plans on hold a result of Ohio's rise in coronavirus trends.
"A number of people across Ohio have been able to work from home since the pandemic began," DeWine said. "At this time of a great increase in cases and as we see our hospitals fill up with COVID patients, I again ask anyone who can work from home to do so.
"We must do everything we can right now to slow down the transmission of the virus and the potential contact people may have."
DeWine's comments come amid a rapid rise in Ohio's coronavirus trends that has occurred over the course of the past two months. Those numbers are only expected to increase following Thanksgiving and heading into the holiday season due to gatherings.
On Monday, Ohio reported 6,631 new coronavirus cases, a decrease of 1,098 cases from Nov. 29. Currently, Ohio is reporting 5,060 active hospitalizations - an increase of 143 active hospitalizations from Sunday.
Earlier this month, DeWine enacted a 21-day 10 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew across Ohio. That curfew is set to last until Dec. 10.