Gov. Mike DeWine (R) warned Sunday that Ohio “could become Florida” as COVID-19 cases rose to new levels in the state.
The governor told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that his state is in a “crucial stage” as Ohio “is headed in the wrong direction” toward the state of Florida as the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States.
“We are at the point where we could become Florida, you know,” DeWine said. “Where you look at our numbers today versus where Florida was a month ago, we have very similar numbers. So we are very, very concerned. “
“While we did a great job from the start in Ohio, we are now headed in the wrong direction and, frankly, I am very, very concerned about that,” he added. “So we are going to go ahead with more requests from us this week.”
Moderator of “Meet the Press” Chuck todd
Charles (Chuck) David ToddChuck Todd: “No editorial view” on any MSNBC Fox News daytime newscast interviewing Trump on Sunday Tapper criticizes Cuomo “singing” about handling COVID-19: “No other state has lost so many lives “MORE pressed DeWine on why he has not issued a mask command.
“I don’t think anyone in Ohio who has seen what I’ve done in the past four months doubts that, you know, I will do whatever it takes to protect the people of Ohio,” the governor replied.
DeWine added that officials “certainly would not rule out” a state mandate.
The governor said the spread “is not just about masks,” adding that gatherings in bars and churches and casual gatherings are contributing to the spread. He stressed that this means “it is not just about orders”.
“The requests are important, but it’s also about getting people to understand, ‘Hey, this is it, this is very, very serious,'” DeWine said.
Ohio has confirmed a total of 73,822 cases and 9,513 hospitalizations across the pandemic, leading to 3,132 deaths, according to state data.
The number of newly identified cases in the state each day has increased steadily since mid-June, peaking at 1,679 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, according to Data from the New York Times.
Throughout July, Florida saw large increases in confirmed coronavirus cases per day, reaching its largest single-day increase of 15,300 new cases of COVID-19 on July 12. Overall, the state has confirmed 350,047 positive cases and 4,982 deaths.
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