TOLEDO, Ohio — Governor DeWine stood firm on his decision to keep parks open on Thursday during his daily press conference. But he did warn that could change in the weeks ahead.
The stay-at-home order issued on March 22 and set to expire on April 6 has been extended to May 1, coinciding with school closures.
"What you have done has saved a number of lives," DeWine said. "But we are still in this."
DeWine stressed how much he's thankful to Ohioans for their sacrifices during this pandemic, saying we've all given up things to protect each other.
"We have to stay in this. We cannot let what we've accomplished and we've accomplished a lot," he said. "We are in a decent position a lot better than we would've been."
The new order also calls for retail businesses to now limit the number of people in their stores starting Monday.
"We want each of the businesses to determine their number," he said, "and post it and then if they fill up, they stop people from coming in."
Parks remain open but could close if the concern of people gathering becomes too high. Metroparks spokesman Scott Carpenter said they've been proactive so far through this crisis, pointing to early closures of restrooms as one such measure. This week, they took extra measures at their busiest park, Wildwood.
"We've sectioned off some parking areas," he said, "so fewer people can actually come in and park and be in at the same time."
DeWine said he knows the actions they're taking now are saving lives. Ohio Department of Health director Dr. Amy Acton informed the governor she believes the state will see its peak between April 15 and May 15. But the data is changing day to day.