New cases of Covid-19 in Cuyahoga County have shot up during the last week

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - Gov. Mike DeWine has left the door wide open when it comes to issuing a statewide order requiring Ohioans to wear masks.

And as cases of Covid-19 grow in Cuyahoga County, Health Commissioner Terry Allan made it clear that he believes wearing a mask is critical to stopping the spread of the virus.

“Some states have mandated masks, we think masks, as a sort of a default for communities is a good idea,” Allan said. “If people choose to wear masks.”

As case numbers begin to grow, and the southern part of the state is seeing significantly higher case growth than the northern part of the state, a mandate to wear a mask is certainly better than a second shutdown of the state.

“Our colleagues at the state are certainly as concerned as we are about trends we’re seeing, about making decisions around how to address mandates in a way that we think would be acceptable to the people,” Allan said.

The biggest increase of cases in the last week was seen among young people, ages 20-29, and even those in the 30-39 age group saw a significant increase in cases.

Dr. Heidi Gullett, the Medical Director for the County Board of Health, is concerned about the rising number of county cases but is encouraged that hospitalizations have remained flat and we remain far from a tipping point regarding hospital capacity.

“The bottom line is we all have to do our part, individuals, organizations everybody has got to do their part so we never have to make tough choices like that,” Dr Gullett said.

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