COLUMBUS, Ohio — Gov. Mike DeWine says there is no choice but to do more to help ease the burden on Ohio healthcare workers as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in the state continue to surge.
DeWine was asked Friday about the restrictions and orders put in place this year and what he is willing to do to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in the winter months.
"We're in a very tenuous, dangerous situation and what I think everyone should be able to agree on is that we cannot let our hospitals get to the point where healthcare is dramatically threatened," DeWine said.
"The curfew, the additional mask-wearing, the inspection of retail -- we think these things have helped...but they have not helped enough," he said.
"We're going to have to do more. We don't have any choice," the governor added.
DeWine made the remarks during a news briefing Friday where he mainly focused on the plan to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine in Ohio.
Emergency medical responders, along with health care workers and others caring for COVID-19 patients, will be first in line for Ohio's initial doses of the vaccine.
Details of vaccine distribution come as cases are hitting record highs in Ohio. The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Ohio has risen over the past two weeks from 7,451 on Nov. 19 to 9,158 on Dec. 3, according to an Associated Press analysis of data provided by The COVID Tracking Project.
One in every 182 people in Ohio tested positive in the past week.
The seven-day rolling average of daily deaths in Ohio has risen over the past two weeks from 33 deaths on Nov. 19 to 68 on Dec. 3, according to the COVID Tracking Project.