COLUMBUS, Ohio — For the seventh straight day, Gov. Mike DeWine will hold a press conference to update Ohioans on the state's response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Ohio Department of Health on Saturday said the number of confirmed cases in the state is now at 36. It is only expected to increase as testing expands, but officials are stressing that that shouldn't concern residents.
"We are not flying blindly," ODH Director Amy Acton said. "We have science behind us; we have pandemic plans."
DeWine and Acton have issued multiple restrictions on residents in the past week, notably a ban on most gatherings of more than 100 people and a closure of all K-12 schools for three weeks. On this day, the governor filed emergency rules for mental health coverage, and also suggested limiting elective surgeries for a while.
"This is not a sprint," DeWine said, adding that latest estimates don't have the spread peaking until late April or early May. "We're going to be doing this for a while."
The coronavirus has so far killed more than 5,600 people worldwide, including 50 in the United States. Both Ohio and the U.S. are currently under a state of emergency.
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