Ohio governor says ‘slowing down’ life needed in virus fight

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohioans must restrict their social interactions as the coronavirus pandemic worsens, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine warned this week ahead of possible new restrictions on businesses and gatherings.

The rapid spread of the virus recently has made people’s odds of contracting it much higher, DeWine said in a series of Monday tweets.

“We’re not talking about shutting down, we’re talking about slowing down,” the governor tweeted Monday. Ohio is seeing tremendous spread of coronavirus cases because people are letting their guard down around friends and family, DeWine said.

DeWine was expected to discuss possible restrictions at his regular Tuesday news briefing. He warned last week he could order another shutdown of restaurants and bars.

The industry has criticized the announcement, saying there’s no evidence they are a cause of spread and that such a move would be economically devastating.

Ohio hospital and intensive care admissions for COVID-19 are at record highs. The 7-day rolling average of daily new cases in Ohio has risen over the past two weeks from 3,097 new cases per day on Nov. 2 to 7,199 new cases per day on Nov. 16, according to an Associated Press analysis of data provided by The COVID Tracking Project.

___

Farnoush Amiri is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.