State health officials say Coronavirus and influenza could prove a deadly combination this winter.
Ohio Governor Mike Dewine began Thursday's coronavirus press briefing by getting his flu shot - and encouraging others to do so:
“Many Ohioans may be accustomed to getting their annual flu vaccine at the workplace. We know with many people working from home maybe that will not be possible this year. But there’s still ample locations for getting vaccinated: local health departments, health care locations, pharmacies across the state.”
DeWine says the Centers for Disease Control's website "vacinefinder.org" has vaccination locations.
The number of red counties on the state's Public Health Advisory maps has dropped to six - the lowest since the state began color-coding the COVID-19 threat. Dewine says the cases in Montgomery, Butler, Preble, Summit, Mercer and Putnam Counties show community spread remains a serious problem, and relaxing restrictions would be a mistake:
“If we took off, for example, mask orders tomorrow – it’ll flare up, just like that. There is as much spread out there today as there has ever been. We’re not going to keep any restriction on one second longer than it has to be on. But I am not going to stand up here and take off restrictions or signal to the people of Ohio that the battle is over when I know it is not over.”
State health officials officials Thursday reported 1,121 new cases of COVID-19 and 30 new deaths. The state now has more than 134 thousand cases and more than 43 hundred deaths.
