COLUMBUS — COVID numbers in Ohio are reaching points we have not seen in nearly a year as the Ohio Department of Health reported more than 10,000 new cases Wednesday.
About 800 of those cases were from a backlog in testing. Despite that, this was the highest daily case count the state has seen since last winter.
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Additionally, the state reported that 500 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in the last 24-hours. That number was double the size of the state’s daily average.
In an interview with News Center 7′s John Bedell, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said he was concerned about the rising number of COVID hospitalizations in the Miami Valley and Northeast Ohio, specifically.
“The major hospitals in Cleveland have shut down doing elective surgeries,” DeWine said.
The Greater Dayton-Area Hospital Association told News Center 7 that they were concerned about hospitalization trends over the next six to eight weeks due to the rising number of COVID hospitalizations in addition to the increase of people being hospitalized with the flu.
DeWine said the numbers highlight a reason for more Ohioans to get vaccinated.
“Anytime someone dies, it’s a tragedy,” DeWine said. “But when they die today and they have not been vaccinated, their life probably could have been saved it they had been vaccinated.”
Additionally, DeWine noted that getting already-vaccinated Ohioans to receive a booster shot would be a way to “save the most lives and keep most people out of the hospital.”
“So this is a time to get that booster, right before Christmas when everybody’s going to be together,” DeWine said.
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When asked about frontline workers, some of which have discussed the fatigue they have felt working through the pandemic, DeWine thanked them for their service.
“When this thing started, no one thought 21 months into this we would still be doing this. And I know they never thought they would still be doing it,” DeWine said. “And I’m sure what is so difficult for them is they’re watching people die.”
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