Ohio Gov. DeWine was in Dayton on Thursday continuing to push the covid vaccine as a way out of the pandemic as cases continue to climb due to the delta variant.
DeWine said he believes more Ohioans will get vaccinated as a result of FDA approval of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine.
The state reported 5,395 new cases on Thursday, nearly 800 additional cases from Wednesday and the highest daily total since late January.
He added state government will stay out of mandates even as Ohio House lawmakers returned to the Statehouse this week to hear testimony on a bill that would ban vaccine mandates and vaccine passports.
"Companies are making these decisions,” DeWine said. “Businesses are making these decisions. Hospitals are making these decisions and, you know, how do I keep my patients safe? What do I do with my personnel?"
DeWine said while the number of COVID patients at Ohio hospitals have increased in the last month, the hospitals are stable.
"I didn't say overrun, because they're not overrun,” the governor said. “What we're seeing is a dramatic increase in number of people hospitalized in Ohio from COVID and it's been a dramatic increase in the last three, four weeks."
As a result of increased COVID patients in hospitals, OhioHealth has decided to pause elective surgeries that require an overnight stay.
