Gov. DeWine to make 4th ‘primetime’ coronavirus speech

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Gov. Mike DeWine planned his fourth “primetime” speech to Ohioans Wednesday about the state’s progress against the coronavirus pandemic as case numbers continue to fall but the number of people seeking vaccinations also drops.

In remarks scheduled for late afternoon, DeWine was to discuss “where we are in our fight against the Coronavirus and our progress towards reaching the end of the COVID pandemic,” his office said in a release.

In a March 4 primetime speech, the governor said he would lift remaining mandates once the state hit 50 coronavirus cases per 100,000 people for two weeks. At the time, the figure was 179 cases; it has dropped to 140.2 cases as of this week.

The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Ohio did not increase over the past two weeks, going from 1,522.29 new cases per day on April 26 to 1,207 new cases per day on May 10, according to data collected by the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

More than 4.2 million people in Ohio had completed the vaccination process as of Tuesday, or about 36% of the population. But the number of people seeking vaccines has dropped in recent weeks, with an average of about 16,500 starting the process last week, down from figures above 80,000 in April.

In addition to his daily or weekly mid-day briefings, DeWine previously addressed Ohioans about the pandemic in primetime speeches Nov. 11 and July 15.

By Andrew Welsh-Huggins

Associated Press

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