OTTAWA — Gov. Mike DeWine on Tuesday urged Ohioans to cancel events and reconsider attending gatherings of any size to deescalate the rapid rise of new coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in Ohio.
“This virus is everywhere and it is spreading. This community spread endangers our schools, our nursing homes and our hospitals,” the governor said.
The uncontrolled spread of coronavirus heading into the winter and holiday seasons increases the possibility that Ohio’s hospitals and health-care workers may become overwhelmed — a fate that Ohio has largely avoided thus far. The pandemic is also forcing schools to transition to hybrid learning models.
“There are no signs of it plateauing,” DeWine said during his weekly briefing.
At the center of Ohio’s latest surge is Putnam County, which reported 868 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people in the past two weeks. That is more than eight times the standard for high-incidence counties set by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention to identify local hot spots where the coronavirus is spreading too quickly. Last Tuesday, Putnam County reported 490 new cases per 100,000 people in the prior two weeks.
Not far behind are Auglaize, Mercer, Allen and Van Wert counties, which are now all within the top 10 counties with the highest number of new COVID-19 cases per capita in Ohio.
The situation has caught the attention of the CDC, which contacted Allen County Public Health on Friday to discuss the situation, the health department said.
The high volume of cases reported in October has stretched health department resources so thin that contact tracers are often unable to contact individuals who test positive for COVID-19 within 24 hours, prolonging the contact tracing process. Allen County Public Health has since resorted to asking anyone who receives a positive test result to notify their close contacts so those individuals can promptly quarantine, rather than wait to hear from a contact tracer.
While DeWine has not issued a stay-at-home order or any new restrictions, he pleaded with Ohioans in high-incidence counties to abide by the public health recommendations and consider canceling gatherings, even private get-togethers with friends and extended family.
“Wear a mask when you’re out in public, when you go to the store and when you’re out with friends,” DeWine said, reminding retailers that they should require customers to wear a mask unless the person has a specific exemption from the state’s mandate.
DeWine is planning a series of Zoom conference calls with leaders in each of the 88 counties that have seen more than 100 new cases per 100,000 people in two weeks, an effort to reassess needs and brainstorm preventative strategies with local leaders. The goal, he said, is to bring those new infections below 100 per 100,000 in a two-week period.
“The trend lines will not change unless we change them,” DeWine said. “If we continue to do the same things we’ve been doing, we’re going to continue to get the same results.”
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