As Ohio looks ahead to what may be its peak in new cases of the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19, the number of new cases in the state continue to increase at a rate of a few hundred per day. 

New cases as of Tuesday afternoon bring the state's total to 4,782, with 167 deaths. 

 

 

Those include 300 in Mahoning County with 19 deaths, 110  in Trumbull county with eight deaths and 59 in Columbiana County with five deaths. 

Mahoning County continues to have one of the highest numbers of cases per capita and deaths overall, despite having a smaller population than counties like Cuyahoga and Franklin. On Tuesday, Dr. Amy Acton acknowledged that some of that can be attributed to emerging hotspots. 

"We're starting to be able to see some hotspots and flares that come with cases up near Detroit, around some nursing homes in Youngstown, these are hotspots that flare up, then recede and they can flare up again," Acton said. 

Health officials have stressed that that information can be helpful, but should not allow for a false sense of safety for surrounding areas since the disease spreads so easily throughout a community. 

 

 

 

On Tuesday, DeWine announced that since bars and restaurants remain closed for dine-in services, those who have a liquor license will now be permitted to serve two drinks for carry out, provided they are sealed, as well as announcing that SNAP recipients will be permitted to pick up a box of prepackaged food from local food banks without some of the previously required paperwork. 

The governor shifted his focus to nursing homes, where he said new efforts are being made to streamline communication. 

"We are trying to pull people together in communities to make sure the hospitals and nursing home/other congregate settings are talking with each other. For example, we want nursing homes to know exactly to call if someone develops symptoms. This is very important to us," DeWine said, promising further information in the days to come. 

Another area that has been a focus of the governor's efforts to slow the spread of the virus in community settings are prisons in the state. 

"Social distancing in prison is difficult," DeWine said. 

On Monday, the governor ordered the National Guard into Elkton federal prison in Lisbon for a limited role assisting medical staff after an outbreak of coronavirus there in which three inmates have died and several others have been infected. 

The governor said intake in prisons has fallen by about twenty percent, but his office has been working to identify what inmates can be released early. 

The governor cited a provision of the law that allows for prisoners to be released due to emergency overcrowding that he will be invoking. 

"We are in an emergency," DeWine said. 

Inmates that will be eligible for release will be due for release in 90 days or less, not including anyone convicted of serious charges such as sex offenses, homicide, kidnapping, or domestic violence. 

Repeat offenders and prisoners who have been denied judicial release in the past will also not be eligible for early release. 

Once these criteria, as well as some others, were applied, DeWine said there are 141 prisoners in the state who will be granted early release. 

In addition, prisoners who are 60 years old or older and have a chronic health condition will also be eligible for early release if they meet those same criteria. 

 

Also announced Tuesday is the formation of a new office aimed at streamlining assistance for small businesses who've suffered from the economic turmoil caused by the near shutdown of the state's economy. 

Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said that office will work to determine what resources need to be directed towards businesses. 

On Monday DeWine and Ohio department of health director, Dr. Amy Acton foreshadowed more detailed information that will be released later this week on models showing when Ohio may reach its peak, saying efforts to encourage social distancing are definitely having an impact. 

Acton typically cites a model from Ohio State University that shows the state reaching its peak sometime around late April before beginning to level off. 

That model has predicted new cases per day being over 1,000 by now, but the number of new confirmed cases has only been around 300. It is possible, however, that the discrepancy is due to a lack of testing and that the actual numbers are closer to the model. 

Another model, from the Institute for Health Metrics, shows the peak possibly hitting as early as this week, with no shortages of hospital or Intensive Care Unit beds. 

Acton has cautioned that she believes that may be too optimistic, but that she does believe we are on course to avoid the worst-case scenario, which would have involved dramatic shortages of beds and equipment that could have overwhelmed the healthcare system and led to nightmare scenarios where care needs to be rationed. 

On Tuesday, Acton said it would only take two weeks for new cases to spike once again, though, if the current efforts are let up too soon. 

"We're actually flatter than the original curve. However, if we let up, cases will go up. The second we let our foot off the gas, it can pick up again," Acton said. 

As it stands, Acton said she expects to see the number of new cases to eventually hit a plateau before beginning to slowly level off. She said the model, which has predicted as many as 10,000 new cases per day at the peak, has a low end of more like 2,000 cases per day. 

The National Guard has been brought into the state to identify sites that can serve as field hospitals, including the Covelli Centre in Youngstown. 

The Centre will be used to house up to 250 coronavirus patients who no longer need intensive care or ventilators, but who are not ready to be released yet. 

No visitors will be permitted at the site, but virtual visits will be available through video conferencing.