Two men were the first in the City of Cincinnati to die from the pandemic coronavirus that causes COVID-19, city officials announced today.
One man was 71 and the other was 86. Both had preexisting conditions, Cincinnati Health Commissioner Melba Moore said today. It isn’t clear how either man contracted the virus. No further details about their cases have been released.
Hamilton County has confirmed 394 cases of the virus as of today, leading to 66 hospitalizations and nine deaths. Of those confirmed cases, 112 were in Cincinnati city limits.
“On behalf of the entire City of Cincinnati, we express our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of the patients who died as well as all families of those affected by this pandemic,” Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley said in a statement. “This is a heartbreaking development in our work to limit the devastating impact of COVID-19 locally. We are reminded how serious this virus is and how necessary it is for our community to continue to stay at home and take bold precautionary measures to mitigate the spread of this deadly virus.”
News of the deaths comes as cases of COVID-19 continue to ramp up across the United States and in Ohio. The Buckeye State had 4,450 confirmed cases of the virus as of today, state officials say, leading to more than 1,200 hospitalizations and 142 deaths.
This article appears in Mar 18 – Apr 14, 2020.
