Ohio Gov. DeWine warns residents COVID-19 may 'flare up': 'We are today where Florida was a month ago'

Ohio Gov. Mike Dewine joined "Bill Hemmer Reports" Friday to discuss his state's response to the coronavirus pandemic, saying he would like his state to avoid the surge in cases that has hit Sun Belt states.

"What we're seeing in the south, Texas and Florida, is not what we want to see in Ohio. We feel for those folks down there," DeWine told host Bill Hemmer. "We feel for the doctors and the nurses. We've got to do everything in Ohio and keep that from coming to Ohio."

On Friday, Ohio reported 1,679 new coronavirus cases, the highest single-day increase since the pandemic began. Officials there also reported 121 new hospitalizations and nine additional deaths.

"You're not going to eradicate it until we have a vaccine ..." the governor said. "But what you don't want is for it to flare up. And, you know, we've got to keep it from flaring up, it's given some signs that it may flare up."

DeWine has encouraged Ohioans to wear a mask in public, but has declined to issue a statewide mandate.

"We are today where Florida was a month ago. And what we do in the next several weeks is really going determine where we go," DeWine said. "Now, we do have a mandatory mask order on for several months for people who work, who are employed. So you go into a store, everybody there has to have a mask on. Today, we have 60 percent of the population of Ohio is covered by mandatory masks for people who are customers."

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DeWine suggested in the increase in cases can be attributed to bars and large gatherings.

"It really comes down to what people are doing in their individual lives, and there's only so much the government can regulate or government should regulate what they do," he said. "But when I talked to the health directors and look at where we're seeing cases, where we're seeing the spread is coming about, you know, in bars, it's coming about in people having just gatherings of people."

"You know, we have a ten limit person order on unless it's your family in Ohio," DeWine added. "And people are gathering in a much bigger crowds than that."