Gov. Mike DeWine is urging Ohioans to continue taking COVID-19 seriously, expressing that he’s “deeply concerned” by the data.
The Ohio Department of Health reported more than 164,200 total cases as of Thursday (October 8). The state is nearing 5,000 deaths of the novel virus.
"I am deeply concerned about what I'm seeing," DeWine said during a press briefing Thursday.
"I would just ask anybody who doesn't think this is very serious to go look at the maps.” he continued, referencing the Ohio Public Health Advisory System risk level map. “And what we have seen is a spread that continues."
Last month, DeWine cautioned Ohioans of the virus, bracing for colder weather and for cases to ramp up again.
He also concluded that Ohioans should continue to wear masks until a vaccine is available to the general public, following a study that found that very few Ohio adults had COVID-19 antibodies.
Although the Republican governor expressed agreement with President Donald Trump’s advice not to let COVID-19 dominate life, DeWine also predicts “fire” on the horizon.
"This has got to stop. This has just got to stop. These lives are valuable. These lives matter. We can do better than this," DeWine said. "We have done well as Ohioans. We don't want to be all doom and gloom...But we are now at a point where it's getting colder, people are more inside, we're now starting to see what we feared from some of our colleges and some of our schools."
"Ohio, we have gotten this far. We have done well," DeWine said. "But it's starting to come. That fire is starting to come."
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