The Ohio Department of Health reported 1,122 hospitalizations for COVID-19 on Tuesday, which is the highest daily number seen in the state since the start of the pandemic, according to reports.
The previous peak was in late April, when Ohio reported 1,103 coronavirus hospitalizations, according to Fox 8 News of Cleveland. By Wednesday, the department reported 1,100 COVID-19 hospitalizations, with 348 people in intensive care.
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The news comes when the Ohio Board of Pharmacy on Thursday lifted a ban purporting to prevent medical facilities from selling or distributing antimalarial drugs, hydroxychloroquine, and chloroquine to treat or prevent COVID-19. While the ban will go into effect on Thursday, authorities now say the bans “will not go into effect at this time.”
The rule’s requirements are no longer applicable.
“As a result of comments received by the medical and patient community and at the request of Governor DeWine, the Ohio State Board of Pharmacy has withdrawn proposed rule 4729: 5-5-21 of the Administrative Code,” according to a board statement.
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The new measure will allow the board to “re-examine the problem with the assistance of the Ohio State Medical Board, clinical experts and other interested parties to determine appropriate next steps.”
“Basically, it’s a patient safety issue,” Cameron McNamee, the board’s director of policy and communications, told The Columbus Dispatch before the board reversed its decision. “We are looking for the best science to determine what is best for Ohio patients.”
The initial decision had nothing to do with President Trump’s public support for the treatment, he said at the time.
On July 23, Governor Mike DeWine announced the designation of 23 counties in a “Red Alert Level 3 Public Emergency”, with Allen County approaching a “Purple Alert Level 4”.
Four other counties (Butler, Lorain, Summit, and Wood) were downgraded to “Orange Alert Level 2”.
“Overall, the decrease in risk levels in these four counties tells us that measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in Red Counties, including increased diligence in social distancing, wearing of masks, washing of Frequent hands and reduced interactions with others outside your home may be helping to curb the spread in these counties, “DeWine said in a press release.
“We are cautiously optimistic about this, but these are still high levels of spread, and citizens across Ohio must remain vigilant.”
Ultimately, Ohio joined Indiana and Minnesota to implement the mask rules across the state last week. DeWine said the mask rules will extend to the entire state for anyone over the age of 10 starting July 23. The Republican originally had resisted extending the mask mandate to all of Ohio, but noted a recent increase in coronavirus cases in counties across the state.
To date, the state health department has reported a total of 83,213 confirmed cases, 3,156 confirmed deaths, and 10,553 hospitalizations.
Caitlin McFall and Nick Givas of Fox News contributed to this story.
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