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Governor DeWine Warns Ohioans About A Virus More Deadly Than Coronavirus
By: Jo Ingles | Statehouse News Bureau
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Two Miami University students are quarantined for possible Coronavirus. The state’s top health officials are watching for more possible infections. But Ohio Governor Mike DeWine says there’s another deadly virus that people should be concerned about.
The World Health Organization has declared the Coronavirus a public health emergency. The virus, which originated in China, is spreading to several cities in the United States, including Ohio. Two Miami University students in Oxford have been tested for the virus and are awaiting results.
Gov. Mike DeWine says Ohio Department of Health Director Amy Acton and her staff are on top of the Coronavirus situation. But he says it’s important to not lose sight of a more common virus that poses a greater threat to Ohioans right now – influenza.
“We lose people. People die every single year because of flu,” DeWine says.
Some Ohio schools have closed during the past couple of weeks to disinfect facilities and allow students and staff who have the flu to recover at home. 2,655 people have been hospitalized for flu in Ohio since the beginning of January.
Airports throughout Ohio are also taking extra precautions to prevent against flu and Coronavirus. Ohio health officials have determined a Chicago man who has the virus and traveled to Cleveland in mid-January was not contagious when he made that trip.