Governor DeWine in a COVID-19 update on Wednesday said that there are more COVID patients in Ohio hospitals now than at any other time during the pandemic.

He said 5,356 people were hospitalized with COVID on Wednesday and that the state also set a new daily record for new cases at at 20,320.

The governor said he decided to hold an update on Wednesday after talking with hospital leaders in the morning and hearing from them about how many cases they are seeing and how their resources are strained.

“What we are seeing in our hospitals, with hospitals and emergency rooms filling up, is being driven by people in Ohio who are not vaccinated,” the governor said.

DeWine and hospital leaders are calling on schools to require masks when schools return from the holiday break.

“Schools need to require masks. Masks work. They slow the spread. It’s very, very important that schools do that.”

The governor said the mask requirement should last at least as long as this surge lasts that we are currently experiencing.

He’s also asking parents to get their children vaccinated.

Findlay City Schools says masks remain optional at this point and that the school district will continue to work with Hancock Public Health and monitor COVID numbers throughout their schools.

During the new conference, DeWine announced that he’s mobilizing an additional 1,250 Ohio National Guard members to help hospitals with their COVID response

Earlier in December he mobilized 1,050 members of the guard to help relieve the hospital staffing strain caused by the surge in patients.