Wexner Medical Center CEO: Wearing masks could save over 2,000 Ohioans
COLUMBUS (WCMH) — The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center held its first weekly COVID-19 briefing Wednesday morning.
In his opening statement, Wexner Medical Center CEO Dr. Harold L. Paz called the pandemic something they never could have imagined back in February. He called the response unprecedented. Dr. Paz praised the hospital system's efforts to expand testing across the state.
According do Dr. Paz, the lives of around 2,000 Ohioans could be saved if 95% of people wear masks while in public.
"I just want to be unambiguous about this. We've done analysis to look at data, and we estimate that over 2,000 Ohio lives could be saved if just 95% of the public wore a mask while they were in public. Over 2,000 lives going forward until we get to the other side of this.
Paz said the hospital system has a positivity rate of less than 1% in the workplace among its 27,000 healthcare workers. He said it's important to protect them by wearing masks, so that they are available to provide care.