COLUMBUS, Ohio (WJW) – “We don’t want a shutdown,” Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said Monday.
“Instead of shutting down, we have to slow down.”
The governor said an announcement about what that means would be coming at his statewide press conference Tuesday.
FOX8.com will carry that press conference live at 2 p.m.
Businesses that struggled to survive the state shutdown in March and dealing with reduced capacity amid continued coronavirus restrictions are bracing for the news.
“We’re looking at a way to allow people to work, to keep kids in school, to protect our elderly in nursing homes. But to do that, we have to change what we do. We have to pull back some,” the governor said.
This comes as the state’s daily cases have surged and COVID-19 hospitalizations are reaching new highs.
The state’s infection rate is now at 12.5%.
That’s jumped nearly 10% in two months.
The infection rate on September 17 was 2.8%.
Several states have implemented new tightened restrictions amid rising cases.
Many businesses say they’ve played by the rules and are paying the price for people who are ignoring public health warnings.
Gov. DeWine used his evening address last Wednesday about the virus to reiterate wearing masks, social distancing, and handwashing but warned the state would look at closing other establishments if cases continued to spike.
Ohio has seen 305,364 coronavirus cases since March 9.
5,742 people have died from the virus in Ohio.
