COVID-19 in Ohio: Health director provides update on pandemic

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Department of Health is providing an update on the COVID-19 pandemic alongside infectious disease and children’s health specialists. 

Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff is joined for Thursday’s briefing by Amy Edwards, an associate director of women’s and children’s infection control, and Joseph Gastaldo, director of infectious diseases at OhioHealth. 

You can watch Thursday’s briefing in the player below:  

The briefing marks the first pandemic update that state health officials have held in two weeks. During the most recent briefing on Feb. 10, Dr. Vanderhoff said COVID hospitalizations had decreased by more than 50% since first peaking in mid-January. 

Last week, Mayor Andrew Ginther and other city leaders noted the recent decline in both hospitalizations and cases, saying they could begin to explore lifting city mask mandates in the “coming weeks” as a result. Cities like Bexley have since lifted the mandates.