Coronavirus cases in the United States surpassed 1,300 on Thursday with nearly 40 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
"These numbers are going to continue to grow. We know that these confirmed numbers are just a small fraction of the individuals who are infected already in the state of Ohio," governor DeWine said during the press conference.
Public health experts have rebuked US authorities for downplaying the pandemic and lagging far behind other hard-hit countries in rolling out testing for the virus. Acton stressed the importance of slowing down the spread of the virus so that health services were not overwhelmed by a massive spike in cases."Taking decisive action now will greatly slow down this disease and stop this trajectory."
He has repeatedly played down the threat, initially claiming that only a handful of Americans were at risk.
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