Gov. DeWine: Ohioans should have ‘sense of urgency’ over coronavirus
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said the state will start taking precautions, though nobody in Ohio currently has been diagnosed. “This could change and so we have to be prepared,” he said Thursday.
Gov. Mike DeW- ine on Thursday said all Ohioans must have a “sense of urgency” of the emerging COVID-19 coronavirus.
But he emphasized that so far, no one in Ohio has developed COVID-19 coronavirus. Eight people in the state have been tested for the disease. CDC officials warned this week they expect an outbreak of the new virus in the United
States.
“But we know that this could change and so we have to be prepared,” he said during a press confer- ence at MetroHealth Hospital.
He said the state will start taking precautions like increasing cleaning and disinfectant state prisons more frequently. He also said the Department of Aging will begin checking on vulner- able populations, and the Ohio Department of Trans- portation will post information about hand washing at rest stops.
The governor toured the MetroHealth infectious disease unit before the news conference, and said he’s been getting daily updates on the virus. He committed to giving the public informa- tion about what they know about the coronavirus, when they know it.
Since emerging in December in Wuhan, China, the virus has spread to dozens of countries, including worrisome outbreaks in Iran and Italy. Symptoms include fever, cough and shortness of breath. Most patients have symptoms four to seven days after being exposed to the ill- ness. But it can take 2-14 days.
DeWine emphasized the state will put out what they what they know about the coronavirus, when they know it.
Most people, about 80 per- cent, who come down with the disease experience mild symptoms, one Chinese study showed, but the disease has proven to be deadly.
The mortality rate is about 2.3 percent, the Chinese study showed. In contrast, the flu mortality rate is between .1 and .2 percent in the United States since 2010, University Hospitals infectious disease
Dr. Elie Anthony Saade said.
Dr. Nancy Messonnier, a CDC official and the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said this week an outbreak in the United States is a question of when, not if. She urged businesses, health professionals and regular citizens to prepare, and said she’s advising her own family that there may be a “significant disruption of our lives.”
If there is an outbreak, precautions could include school and business closures.