COLUMBUS — Governor Mike DeWine says he’ll shorten the state’s coronavirus curfew as a result of falling hospitalization numbers beginning Thursday night.
DeWine said on Tuesday that the current 10:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. curfew would be reduced to 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. as long as the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 remains below 3,500.
“I think people are being more careful an we’re see our cases come down, but we have to continue to do that, we have to continue to play ball,” he said.
The state says 2,944 people were hospitalized with the coronavirus Wednesday, down from 2,964 on Tuesday.
The COVID-19 death toll in the U.S. is running at close to all-time highs but newly confirmed cases and the number of people in the hospital have dropped over the past two weeks.
At the same time, health experts have warned that the more contagious and possibly more lethal variant sweeping Britain will probably become the dominant source of infection in the U.S. by March. It has been reported in over 20 states.
DeWine and Ohio health officials are keeping a watchful eye on a variant that developed in Columbus, according to Ohio State scientists.
“The great concern is that it appears to be much more contagious than what we’re dealing with today,” DeWine said.
The new curfew hours will be in effect at least through 12:01 p.m. on Feb. 11, 2021, at 12:01 p.m.
Under the order, individuals must stay at between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. except for obtaining necessary food, medical care or social services, or providing care for others.
If the number of hospitalized patients falls below 3,000 for seven straight days as of Feb. 11, the curfew start time would roll back to midnight and the curfew could be eliminated if hospitalization numbers fall below 2,500 over seven days.
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The 5,366 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported Wednesday is below the three-week average and brings the total number of Ohioans diagnosed with the virus to 878,284.
There 75 additional deaths, raising the death toll to 10,931 and the 254 additional hospital admissions brought the total to 45,530. Currently, COVID-19 patients occupy 10.66% of the total number of hospital beds in the state
There are 110,350 active cases of COVID in Ohio, the lowest number since Nov. 20.
The state has administered 682,705 initial doses of the coronavirus vaccine, covering 5.84% of the total population.
The seven-day rate of positive coronavirus tests is 9%.