Governor DeWine: Whether your candidate wins or loses, our common enemy should be COVID-19

CLEVELAND — Tuesday proved to be an election day like no other, with a record turnout of voters in Ohio, despite a record-breaking amount of new COVID-19 cases. The Ohio Department of Health reported 4,229 new cases, that’s the first time that the state topped 4,000 cases in daily reporting.

Governor Mike DeWine spoke with News 5 about these cases and his message is clear: We have to control the spread of COVID-19.

“It’s going to take every one of us working together, Democrat, Republican, Independent, to beat back this virus, to get us through to get into the spring, into the summer when we get the vaccine,” he said.

He said the jump in cases is from people letting their guards down, with casual get-togethers between friends and weddings and funerals.

“The virus continues to fool us. We knew these numbers were likely to go up but had no idea they would go up, frankly, this fast and I think it’s time for all of us to kind of reassess what we are doing in our own lives,” said the governor.

He stressed the importance of wearing masks and social distancing.

“What’s at stake is whether our kids are going to be able to go to school, in person. What’s at stake is the safety of our grandparents in nursing homes. What’s at stake is whether our hospitals are going to be overrun with people,” he said.

When asked if the spike in cases may be from a large, in-person, early voting turnout with long lines, he said he doesn’t think so.

“I think there’s a lot of things we can do safely because you have a mask on,” he said.

Dewine said he’ll be watching the results of the election closely, but hopes that, at the end of the day, there will be a brighter future tomorrow.

“This virus just doesn’t care whether you voted for Joe Biden or whether you voted for Donald Trump. It’s coming after all of us and we need to put the politics aside and get serious with this,” he said.