CINCINNATI, Ohio — A state representative in Greater Cincinnati has called for the resignation and replacement of Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
In an interview with The Enquirer, Rep. Paul Zeltwanger (R-Mason) criticized Acton’s actions for what he saw as a failure to provide accurate information to the public.
He told the Enquirer that the early statistics provided by Acton such as the estimate Ohio would experience a surge in cases of as many as 10,000 in a day was inaccurate.
“When you miss things by that far in the non-government world -- yeah, there's accountability for that,” Zeltwanger told The Enquirer.
Acton has credited Ohioans who have socially distanced with keeping those initial worst-case projections low and preventing hospitals from being overrun.
On Monday, Zeltwanger quoted a tweet by Rep. John Cross, R-Kenton, calling for Acton to resign and for DeWine to appoint a new health director.
“I second your second opinion,” Zeltwanger said in his quoted reply to Cross.
These remarks come amid Ohio Republicans' attempts to curb the powers of the Ohio Department of Health to react to a health crisis. The Ohio Revised Code provides wide powers to the health director to to make “special or standing orders or rules … for preventing the spread of contagious or infectious diseases.”
Gov. Mike DeWine, who appointed Acton and has overseen the state's response, has received high marks from the public in polls for Ohio's handling of the public health crisis.
The Ohio Capital Journal contributed to this report.
