Nearing the heated presidential election on Tuesday (November 3), Gov. Mike DeWine penned an open letter to Ohioans urging them to “find common ground” to combat COVID-19.
The Ohio Department of Health has reported 219,000 total cases and more than 5,300 deaths as of Sunday (November 1), the latest data available Monday morning (November 2).
DeWine also spoke on CNN’s “State of the Union” with Jake Tapper, delivering a similar message, cleveland.com reported Sunday.
“Even in calmer times when we were less divided, rhetoric in the final throes of top-of-the-ticket campaigns almost always has been hot, animated, and somewhat exaggerated,” DeWine wrote in the letter. “Today, however, we truly have a nation more divided than any of us can remember. It seems that many on each side genuinely feel our country will fall apart if the other side wins.”
But, the governor continued, regardless of the outcome of the election, “we also share a common enemy…that is relentless and clearly on the march.” At least 5,300 Ohioans have died of the virus and nearly 230,000 lives nationwide as of Sunday, the day DeWine pointed out.
“As we confront this new enemy, time is not on our side,” DeWine said. “We must focus. We must rally together. And, in two days when this election is over, we must — as Ohioans — immediately pull together to fight it. The stakes could not be higher.”
DeWine noted the need for a bipartisan COVID-19 relief bill from Congress and urged Ohioans to continue taking precautions until a COVID-19 vaccine is available.
“We are practical. We are problem solvers. We are inventors, laborers, and exceedingly hard workers, with a special kind of grit, resolve, and determination,” DeWine said. “Show Ohioans a problem — and we will show you a solution…We are people who united in the toughest of times, because our shared bonds will always be stronger than our differences.”
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