News Bite

Whitmer Cites Increased COVID-19 Cases In Ohio; Recent Data Not Supportive

Johns Hopkins, New York Times, State of Ohio all show downward trend

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer made a claim about rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in Ohio that is not supported by the most recent data.

On June 1, Whitmer was asked during a press conference about Michigan residents travelling to Ohio to get hair cuts and eat at restaurants that are open for in-store dining.

Whitmer responded: “And I’m concerned, people who are going to Ohio might be bringing COVID-19 back I’m worried about that. We know that their numbers have been increasing while ours has been decreasing. What we’ve done in Michigan has worked and it has set us apart from other states.”

There are a number of methods being used to track and report COVID-19 cases, each of which generates different figures and data sets.

Johns Hopkins University reports that Ohio went from 657.33 new cases on May 22 to 439 new cases on June 1. It uses a five-day moving average.

The New York Times reports Ohio had 627 new cases on May 22 and 471 on June 1.

The Ohio health department reports that from “day of onset,” the state had 526 new cases on May 22 and 111 new cases on June 1.

Each of these sites and methods indicate a downward trend in Ohio’s new coronavirus cases.

Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.