Columbus, Ohio — Ohio Governor Mike DeWine says Phase 1 of reopening the economy has hit a major road block when it comes to testing. He says federally and at the state level, there’s not enough of it, it’s slow and it is not widespread. We have no idea who already had the disease or who’s recovered, and that is slowing our reopening of the economy.
But today, he says we’re taking a major step in the right direction.
“Testing is vital as we begin to reopen our economy. We want to reopen the economy, we want to get back to work, but it’s important that we do it the right way, the safe way,” said DeWine.
According to the Ohio Department of Health, Ohio has conducted around 94,000 COVID-19 tests on people believed to be carrying the virus.
When it comes to identifying who’s recovered, who’s contagious, and who’s susceptible, it’s not nearly enough. But help is on the way.
“This morning I got a call directly from the Commissioner of the FDA Dr. Steven Hahn. He called to tell me they have approved a new version of Thermo Fischer reagent, so that is very, very good news,” said DeWine.
He says that reagent was a missing ingredient in our testing capacity and with it’s approval, we can now ramp up testing three-fold.
“The approval will greatly expand our state’s ability, increase its testing capacity. Thermal Fischer is hoping that they can give Ohio enough reagent so that by mid-May we can see a significant increase in the amount of tests we can give per day,” said DeWine.
According to the federal reopening plan, states must see a two-week downward trend of cases before they can enter Phase 1.
With more testing comes more positive cases, but DeWine says this deluge of data is a valuable tool for economic stability.
To help spearhead these new testing efforts, he’s enlisting the help of former Governors Bob Taft and Dick Celeste.
“They will use their skills, their talent, their experience, their contacts, and their life experience to help us in this critical mission to improve testing and expand testing in the state of Ohio,” said DeWine.
