Welp. One day after Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine vowed that if COVID cases continue to rise across the state he might have to take some real action, COVID cases continued to rise.
Today’s daily numbers continue our growing trend topping 7,000 cases reported since yesterday. Another one-day record. We also have our second highest day of hospital admissions with 268 people getting admitted to the hospital. pic.twitter.com/KuxcT4YZUN
— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) November 12, 2020
The state broke its record for daily COVID cases Thursday yet again, surpassing 7,000 for the first time with a total of 7,101. Ohio has eclipsed its previous daily record multiple times in the month of November, topping 4,000 daily cases for the first time on Nov. 3, 5,000 cases for the first time on Nov. 7, and 6,000 cases for the first time on Nov. 10.
Despite this blistering upward trajectory, DeWine offered little more than moral counseling during his statewide address Wednesday. He invoked Martin Luther King, Jr, Winston Churchill and religious teaching to implore Ohioans to wear masks and stop gathering in large numbers.
But his new health orders to curtail the spread of the deadly virus were variations on previous themes: He strengthened an existing statewide mask order by mandating that businesses put signs at entrances and launched a compliance unit to levy penalties on businesses that fail to enforce mask usage. He also said that strict new measures would be put in place regarding group gatherings at banquets, weddings and funerals.
Those restrictions will be important, as Ohio can expect a good deal more funerals in the coming weeks.
The state currently has more patients in hospitals and intensive care units than at any point during the pandemic thus far. There were 35 new deaths reported Thursday as well, increasing the state’s total to 5,658.
DeWine said that he would reassess the situation in a week. If cases continue to rise, he said he would have no choice but to close restaurants, bars and fitness centers.
