State health leaders say COVID-19 infections are increasing in recent weeks when compared with the same time last month. On Wednesday, Ohio set a new record for cases in a single day, tallying 2,039. It's the first time since the pandemic began that cases exceeded 2,000 in a day. And Gov. Mike DeWine warns that might translate into more deaths from the virus in the future.
The three week average now stands at 1,282 and there have been more than a thousand confirmed cases every day for more than a week.
Ohio recorded 12 confirmed deaths Tuesday, with numbers in the single digits the three days before that. DeWine says he’s worried about the death rates.
“They’re the lagging, lagging indicator so when you see these numbers as high as they are today, we may see those results in two, three, four weeks," DeWine says.
Hospitalization numbers are also gradually increasing.
DeWine says he’s worried that people are letting their guards down by congregating with others and not wearing masks consistently. And he says that’s worrisome as the weather is getting colder and people will be spending more time inside.
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