Ohio is heavily relying on data and statistics in its fight against coronavirus since the state is running low on tests. Health officials say the latest research shows Ohio's social distancing is working, but there's still more to do.
Dr. Amy Acton, Ohio's health department director, says there's new research from Ohio State University's Infectious Diseases Institute that shows Ohio could have seen COVID-19 cases skyrocket to tens of thousands of new cases a day without mitigation efforts like closing schools and businesses.
Acton urges that Ohio must stay the course so the number of cases don't far exceed hospital capacity.
"We've got to even clamp down more, we have got to stay at home and we can't go in the other direction right now cause you can actually see a shift," says Acton.
She adds that hospitals are on track to need 40 times the normal amount of personal protection equipment, but without mitigation efforts, hospitals were on track to needing 65 times the normal amount.
"That is going to make all the difference in our ability to handle this. We will exceed our capacity, but we've really been minimizing that amount so Ohio what you’re doing absolutely is saving lives," says Acton.
Acton says the latest predictions show Ohio seeing between 6,000 to 8,000 new cases of COVID-19 per day at the state's peak, which is projected for around May 1.
