There has been some progress in keeping Ohio's coronavirus numbers lower than those in neighboring states, and that has been credited to Gov. Mike DeWine's early, tough social distancing guidelines, but he warned Tuesday that the state's illness peak still remains weeks away.
"The social distancing, you know, has certainly helped, but we're into a crucial period of time," the Republican governor said on CNN's "New Day." "A message to my fellow Ohioans, we can't let up now. We've got to really stay at this or we're going to see this come at us even stronger."
As of early Tuesday, 1,933 positive coronavirus tests were reported in Ohio, along with 39 deaths. The neighboring state of Michigan, meanwhile, is reporting 6,498 positive tests and 184 deaths.
DeWine was quoted earlier this week in The Wall Street Journal as saying the state has the "monster on the mat," but on Tuesday, he said that may have been a "little exaggeration."
"I was trying to explain to people that we've got him down there, but he's still tough," said DeWine. "We've had our kind of like you've got your foot on his neck, but we can't let up because if we take our foot off he's coming right back up and get us."
Meanwhile, the death rate in Ohio is still climbing, said DeWine, and state Director of Health Amy Acton said last week that Ohio's deaths are projected to peak in mid-May at as high as 10,000 people a day. The governor said Tuesday the peak could be anywhere between mid-April and mid-May.
"Part of this is driven by the fact that we don't have, you know, widespread testing, and that is not unique to Ohio," the governor said.