Patterson said in a weekly Facebook live that the county saw 43 confirmed cases of the coronavirus between May 29 and Friday. As of Friday, Clark County had 323 cases, six confirmed deaths and one probable death, of the coronavirus, according to the Ohio Department of Health’s website.
“If you compare it to the previous week, those numbers are actually down slightly from the previous week,” Patterson said.
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Between May 22 and May 29, the county saw 59 confirmed cases, according to data from the CCCHD.
But Patterson warned that he, “wouldn’t call a one week difference a trend yet.”
“Actually, if you ask me to predict what we are going to see this time next week, I think you are going to see those numbers continue to be at that number or higher. At least for the foreseeable future,” Patterson said.
As nearly all industries are being given the green light to reopen by Gov. Mike DeWine, some customers are opting to put on the brakes, Patterson said, as the county has yet to reach its pandemic peak.
“It’s a good thing for our economy that we get those people back to work, we get the owners back in business providing services, but we have seen people a little slow to react, a little bit slow to go back into those environments,” Patterson said. “People are being careful. Especially people who are older, who might be at more risk, they are taking things slow and we want them to feel comfortable before they go out.”
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Springfield City Manager Bryan Heck, who joined Patterson on the Facebook live, said it’s been interesting to watch local business community adapt to making customers feel more comfortable in the coronavirus era.
“Each one has taken a little bit of a different approach to how they handle and adapt their businesses to COVID-19 and bringing both employees and customers back in,” Heck said.
He referenced restaurants installing plex-glass barriers in between booths and utilizing more of their patio space than they did before.
“They have paid attention to ways to make that atmosphere more inviting and more comfortable for those who, yes, may want to step back out and frequent more businesses that they had before COVID-19, but they want to make sure that they are taking the proper precautions,” Heck said.
Patterson said as residents begin resuming business and going out, it’s important to remember that, “there is a lot of virus out in our community.”
“In fact — it would be my supposition that there is more virus in our community today than there has been since this began. The pool of the virus is out there and its spread more widely than its been before,” Patterson said.
That’s why residents should continue to wear masks and social distance when in public, Patterson said.
“I’m not trying to scare anybody but I think people need to understand, go slow, be careful,” Patterson said.
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