As Ohio’s COVID-19 deaths top 600, Governor Mike DeWine said Ohioans should not expect the healthcare system or the economy to fully open up. He emphasized that the process will be gradual. Ohio’s COVID-19 deaths passed the 600 point. There was also a science lesson on how the proper filters for air conditioning systems can help fight the virus. We break down the four important points from today’s press conference.
COVID-19 Cases
- Cases Presumed – 14,694
Cases Confirmed -14,142 - Deaths Presumed – 656
Deaths Confirmed – 618 - Hospitalizations – 2,960
ICU Admissions – 900
The number of confirmed cases in Scioto County remains at 6. The Scioto County Health Department says three of those people have recovered from Coronavirus.
Healthcare System Not Fully Open
Governor DeWine said he wanted to clarify his comments yesterday on elective surgery:
“We’re not ready for the entire health care system to instantly turn back on.”
DeWine said he would love it to get back to the point where hospitals could do any procedures they wanted. ”
“What I was trying to say yesterday was that we wanted Doctors to reach out to patients to reassess the need for the surgery. During this assessment, the provider should consider the patient’s overall health condition and quality of life.
I really want to make clear that if you need emergency care or your conditioning is worsening, call your doctor or emergency care provider.”
He said he’d asked doctors to come up with a plan for fully reopening Ohio’s healthcare system. “We want to get the government out of this as quickly as we can.”
Upgrade HVAC to Protect Employees
Since Dr. Amy Acton took the day off, Dr. Mark Weir stepped up for today’s science lesson. He emphasized disinfecting surfaces, maintaining social distance, and wearing masks.
He also said that cooking and freezing should take care of COVID-19 on food.
Weir also spoke about how Heating and Air Conditioning interact with the virus. He advised businesses to separate HVAC systems if possible and to frequently change filters. He recommended using HEPA-rated filters.
“Filters do a very good job. The thicker the filter, the more viruses it will remove. On top of that, you can change the mixture of indoor and outdoor air you use.”
Reopening Plans
DeWine said he planned to follow the White House guidelines for reopening businesses in phases. However, he said Ohio would make it’s own adjustments.
He said he would announce his plan for reopening businesses on Monday.
When asked why he couldn’t reopen Ohio fully today, since the state seems to have a lot fewer cases than originally predicted, DeWine said, “It does not change the fact that this is still very contagious. It does not alter the fact that of today, 656 Ohioans have died. Percentages are interesting. As we move to open up more of Ohio, we want to do it in a careful way. We want to do it in a way that engenders confidence in people.”
DeWine said there were two ways to open up. You could immediately launch into mass gatherings or you could open up gradually.
Dr. Weir said, “Sometimes the science just reflects a lot of what we’ve known for awhile. The old adage is slow and steady wins the race or not opening up the floodgates. If you go from everything is tightly locked up. Then you open everything at once. You’re almost inviting another peak to occur.”
Weir said it’s important to do things slowly in order to gauge the effects of opening up particular parts of society. “Risk can never be zero. The virus is in our environment. Whenever we open up the economy the virus is going to be in our economy.”