COLUMBUS — As each day of social distancing and stay at home orders continue during the coronavirus pandemic, many wonder when Ohio will hit peak and descend. According to the latest forecast models from the Ohio State University, the downward curve in COVID-19 cases could carry into June—news that Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton was sorry to share as many are looking for a time table to return to daily life.

Click here to view the interactive graphic on the ODH website.

"I didn’t mean to ruin summer for all you folks when I said yesterday that I couldn’t give you a complete hope about summer, but I do want you to have a realistic sense that they are anticipating a peak somewhere between the end of April and mid May ... thanks to all of your efforts, looking more all the time like this blue curve, but as you can see that peak stretches out," Acton said during Thursday's briefing.

Acton said even when we hit the peak, it will be a slow decline down from the curve, taking us well into June.

"At that time, it won’t just be one day where it then falls away, it will be day after day of a lot of hospitalizations," said Acton, who will look for signs for when we can come out of this as soon as possible.

Acton again reiterated the importance of social distancing and its role in slowing the spread of the coronavirus, particularly as it gives hospitals time to prepare for the surge.

She mentioned a quote that she read when thinking about social distancing and Ohio's efforts thus far in the fight against COVID-19.

“It spreads quickly but it make itself known slowly,” Acton read.

With peak likely going into June, Acton said there will need to be several things in place before the stay at home order, which was extended until May 1, can end, including:

• Ubiquitous Testing— so there is a better idea of who is infected with the virus. This will improve current modeling.
• Hospitals will need to be at a place where they are stabilized and have all the equipment they need because people continue to get sick with this.
• Really robust contact tracing and ability to identify someone right away when they are ill or when they have been exposed so we can isolate them.
• Need to see the number of cases low, nearly at zero, and stabilized

Acton understands that while peak may go into June, she encouraged everyone to get outside and find something positive to do, at a safe distance of course.

"We’re not saying all of summer is lost to us. It certainly isn’t and I hope you’re getting out there and enjoying this beautiful weather in ways that are safe that we talk about."

Additional Coronavirus information and resources:

We're Open! Northeast Ohio is place created by News 5 to open us up to new ways of thinking, new ways of gathering and new ways of supporting each other.

Click here for a page with resources including a COVID-19 overview from the CDC, details on cases in Ohio, a timeline of Governor Mike DeWine's orders since the outbreak, coronavirus' impact on Northeast Ohio, and link to more information from the Ohio Department of Health, the Cuyahoga County Board of Health, the CDC and the WHO.

See data visualizations showing the impact of coronavirus in Ohio, including county-by-county maps, charts showing the spread of the disease, and more.

View a global coronavirus tracker with data from Johns Hopkins University.

Here is everything you need to know about testing for coronavirus in Ohio.

Here's a list of things in Northeast Ohio closed due to coronavirus concerns

See complete coverage on our Coronavirus Continuing Coverage page.