Governor met with president on Tuesday

COLUMBUS — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine says that COVID-19 cases in the state are beginning to plateau.

“Cases were dropping and have leveled out,” he said.

In 24 hours before the governor’s news conference Thursday, the Ohio Department of Health reported 1,501 new confirmed cases of the virus and 67 hospitalizations.

In cases per 100,000, the department said the number stood at 146.9, which is an incease over last week from 143.8 cases per 100,000.
DeWine has said health orders will be lifted when that number reaches 50 cases per 100,000 people. The slight uptick this week follows a steady decline from December, when the number stood at 900 cases per 100,000 the week of New Year’s.

“We’re really at a point now where our cases have plateaued,” DeWine said. “There is some indication the plateau is going up.”

In county-by-county numbers, Clark County had the highest occurrence of COVID-19, with 253 cases per 100,000 people, while Van Wert County was lowest, at 38.9 per 100,000 cases.

Locally, Lawrence County was listed at 80.7 per 100,000 people, with neighboring Scioto County at 130.1, Gallia County at 66.9 and Jackson County at 114.2

DeWine, a Republican, also met with President Joe Biden, a Democrat, on Tuesday in Columbus regarding the pandemic.

“This afternoon in Columbus, I met with Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine to discuss our coordinated response to COVID-19,” Biden said in a post on Twitter following the meeting. “The virus doesn’t just impact red or blue states — it impacts us all — and I’m committed to working across the aisle to defeat it.”