COLUMBUS, Ohio — Gov. Mike DeWine, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, and Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton held their daily COVID-19 briefing on Tuesday afternoon at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus.
The Ohio Department of Health revealed on Tuesday that there are now 2,199 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the state. 55 people have died, while 585 more are hospitalized.
DeWine mentioned that Dr. Amy Acton issued an order to help the state keep track of its ventilators. The order requires weekly on-line reporting of ventilators by any entity in the supply chain, from its creation through end use. That group includes manufacturers, producers, wholesalers, transporters, distributors, retailers, physicians, clinics, hospitals, and medical facilities.
Dr. Acton had several important items of note during her remarks. She stressed the importance of social distancing with this quote. ""I'm asking you to think as much as you can about essential activities. I want you to think about every trip to the store you make now. Every time you go out to get medicine, you want to minimize even that."
Then, as she reviewed the latest graphs on the state's COVID-19 cases and the number of hospital beds available, Acton stated that "we have empty beds now, but it is the calm before the storm."
With coronavirus cases expected to increase drastically in the coming weeks, Acton said Ohio will need to at least double its current hotel capacity. Based on its current modeling, Acton said that Ohio is projected to peak with 10,000 new daily cases around mid-late April.
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