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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WJW)– Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said he authorized 1,050 members of the Ohio National Guard to help hospitals in the state deal with the currently COVID-19 situation.

Of those, 150 will go to areas in Cleveland and Akron. The other 900 will go to other parts of the state.

DeWine said he is also working with an Ohio health care staffing company.

“This will allow Ohio hospitals to bring in qualified nurses and other qualified personnel from out of state to fill needed position and help ease some of the pressure on hospitals and their staff over the critical holiday period,” DeWine said.

The governor said in the early stages of the pandemic, they were worried about beds and space. But that has shifted to concerns about staffing.

“Twenty-two months of this pandemic has taken its toll on our health care workers and that’s certainly, certainly understandable. We cannot thank them enough,” DeWine said.