Record Number Of Ohioans Enter Hospitals For COVID-19 Care

COLUMBUS, OH — As Ohio's hospitals continue to strain under the COVID-19 surge, nearly 600 Ohioans entered hospitals due to the illness in the past 24 hours, a new record for the state.

On Tuesday, the Ohio Department of Health announced that 585 Ohioans had checked into hospitals for coronavirus treatment. The state is now averaging 305 COVID-19 hospitalizations per day.

There are now 5,226 Ohioans currently in hospitals for COVID-19 treatment. More than 1,200 patients are in intensive care units.

"There are a lot of concerns about ICU capacity - more hospitals are voicing concerns about their ability to manage so many ICU patients. One of every 3 people on a ventilator has COVID. They'll crowd out other people who need that care if the numbers continue to rise," said Dr. Andy Thomas of the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center.

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The state's other COVID-19 metrics were also up on Tuesday. More than 9,000 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed among Ohioans, with thousands of tests still waiting to be confirmed by health officials.

"I'm asking every Ohioan to continue to pull back and limit your activities. There is a cause and effect to what we do - we can slow this down. The scariest thing is that there is no indication that we have plateaued. We haven't seen anything like this for 100 years," Gov. Mike DeWine said Monday.

The health department also confirmed 119 new COVID-19 related deaths in the past 24 hours.

Here are all of Monday's numbers:

• New cases: 9,030
• New deaths: 119
• New hospitalizations: 585
• New ICU admissions: 47

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