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Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine: 'We save our economy by first saving lives'

On Tuesday, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine addressed the economic concerns regarding his stay at home order.

On Monday, President Donald Trump said that while the country remains committed to battling the coronavirus (COVID-19), it cannot "let the cure be worse than the problem" in regards to the effect that social distancing and stay at home orders have had and could continue to have on the economy.

At his daily press briefing on Tuesday, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said that while he and Trump are aligned in their goals, he doesn't see the matters of health and the economy as separate.

"The truth is that protecting people and protecting the economy are not mutually exclusive," DeWine said. "In fact, one depends upon the other. We save our economy by first saving lives. And we have to do it and do it in that order."

And although DeWine said he is mindful of the rising employment and economic hardship caused by actions such as the stay at home order Ohio currently has in place until April 6, he added "when people are dying, when people are not feeling safe, this economy is not going to come back. We have to flatten that curve."

As of Tuesday, Ohio has had 564 positive cases of the coronavirus, 145 of which have resulted in hospitalization and eight deaths. Dating back to the discovery of the first positive coronavirus case on March 9, DeWine has put a number of orders in place, closing schools and various businesses and public places to slow the spread of the virus.

After DeWine announced the state's stay at home order on Sunday, Ohio Jobs and Family Services said that it had received a record number of unemployment claims, which resulted in a slowdown of its website. Ohio is only being permitted to release its unemployment numbers on a weekly basis.

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