New projections from the Cleveland Clinic show that Ohio's hospitals will begin to be hit hard by the coronavirus (COVID-19) in two weeks, Governor Mike DeWine said on Friday.
Based on the clinic's projections, DeWine said that Ohio may need to double or even triple its hospital capacity to account for what is currently projecting to be a mid-May peak. On Thursday, Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton shared that projections show that Ohio's peak could see the state have as many as 8,000 new cases per day. On Friday, she amended that number to 10,000 new cases.
Ohio's hospital capacity is currently one-third of that projection, per Acton.
As of Friday, Ohio has had 1,137 positive coronavirus cases, 276 of which have resulted in hospitalization and 19 deaths. Earlier this week, DeWine shared that the state is looking to convert hotel and dorm rooms across the state in order to increase hospital capacity.
As a result of the Cleveland Clinic's projections, DeWine has divided the state into eight regions and asked each to have a draft for plans to increase their hotel capacity done by Saturday morning. He has also asked for Ohio's National Guard to help oversee the buildup.
Dating back to the discovery of Ohio's first positive coronavirus case on March 9, DeWine has put a number of measures and orders in place to encourage social distancing. This past Monday, a stay-at-home order lasting until at least April 6 went into effect.