COLUMBUS, Ohio — As Ohio has continued to fight the coronavirus (COVID-19), one of the biggest issues the state has faced is a need for personal protective equipment (PPE).
Today, Governor Mike DeWine announced that Ohio has shipped a record 4.1 million pieces of PPE this week to state Emergency Medical Agencies.
"This wasn’t easy," DeWine said. "As you know we are competing in a volatile marketplace with other states and countries for this critical equipment. We will continue to distribute PPE to the local EMAs when we have it. We are working on this every day."
The shipment includes N95 masks, face shields, surgical masks and non-medical gloves and will be distributed between nursing homes, jails, living facilities, hospitals and first responders.
DeWine said that while the state will continue to find ways to distribute more supplies, they're also look at ways to optimize technology to ensure the supplies Ohio does have will last as long as possible.
As of Wednesday, Ohio has had 17,303 cases positive coronavirus cases, including 3,421 hospitalizations, 1,014 ICU admissions and 937 deaths. Dating back to the discovery of Ohio's first positive coronavirus case on March 9, DeWine has put a number of measures in place to encourage physical distancing, including a stay-at-home order since March 23.