CEDARVILLE, Ohio — Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted held another briefing Thursday with the latest information on the state of Ohio's response to COVID-19.
Here were the key takeaways from DeWine's Thursday news conference:
Record number of cases
For the second consecutive day, the state of Ohio saw a record number of day-to-day cases of COVID-19. On Thursday, the Ohio Department of Health reported 2,425 cases in the last 24 hours.
Of the 10 highest days of new cases reported, eight have occurred in just the past nine days. Nine have occurred in the month of October alone.
"Sadly, our situation in Ohio continues to worsen. For my fellow Ohioans who have felt that until now this virus really did not impact their life or their family and that they would react when it was really serious -- I say to them that the time is now," said DeWine
Chris Christie talks about his COVID-19 battle
To help illustrate the power of COVID-19, DeWine brought in a special guest on Thursday. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was recently released from the hospital after testing positive for coronavirus and had a grim warning for those who don't take COVID-19 seriously.
"I want everyone to understand that this is one of the most unpredictable, random, and brutal viruses that you'll ever see. My message is that there is no place to hide if you are not going to wear a mask, remain socially distant, and wash your hands frequently," Christie said during the briefing.
Cuyahoga County on COVID-19 purple 'watch list'
DeWine revealed that 38 of the state's 88 counties are at Level 3 "red" in the state's coronavirus advisory system. It's an increase from 29 counties from last week.
However, Cuyahoga County is now on the state's watch list for Level 4 "purple." DeWine says in addition to exceeding the CDC’s threshold for high incidence, the county has a sustained increase in new cases, outpatient visits and hospital admissions. Cuyahoga County is at 101 cases per 100,000 people.
Eight other counties in the Northeast Ohio area are at Level 3 "red" in the state's coronavirus advisory list.
- Geauga
- Lake
- Lorain
- Mahoning
- Portage
- Stark
- Summit
- Wayne
Watch the entire press conference again in the player below: