CNN "The Situation Room" - Interview with Mike DeWine

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

The Republican governor of Ohio, Mike DeWine, is joining us right now.

Governor DeWine, thanks so much for joining us.

GOV. MIKE DEWINE (R-OH): Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: Let me get your reaction.

The president says -- and I'm quoting him now -- "We have prevailed on testing."

Do you agree with him? Can anyone who wants a test in Ohio get a test right now?

DEWINE: No.

I think we have made a lot of progress. The White House has been helpful to us to get the reagents and get that approved. So we have upped our capacity significantly in Ohio. The actual testing is going up. I think we're up to about 7,500 tests a day.

And we project that that's going to continue to go up. So we're -- we're moving in the right direction. What we have done, Wolf, is prioritized it. We have three levels, one, two and three, in regard to who should get a test.

Now, the private sector is coming on. And so that's a different situation. You're seeing some drugstores, for example, that are -- pharmacies -- that are rolling these things out in the private sector.

But I'm talking about what -- what we're trying to do with the testing that we have. And, as I said, it's gone up significantly. But what we're trying to do with that is to prioritize it to save lives. And that's the most important thing that we focus on every single day.

BLITZER: Because testing is so important, and even testing for people who have no symptoms, because you might have coronavirus and be asymptomatic.

So, people who want to get a test should be able to get a test. But that's not necessarily the case right now, despite what the president says.

The White House did announce today that it will allocate $11 billion in the previously appropriated funds by the House and the Senate, signed into law by the president, to increase testing capacity.

How much of a difference do you believe that will make in your ability to reopen your state of Ohio?

DEWINE: Well, I was on the call, and a lot of the governors were on the call with the vice president today. And we heard discussion about that.

That certainly is going to be very helpful. We're -- one of the things that we focus a lot on is our nursing homes, because Ohio, like most states, is seeing a real fatality rate in some nursing homes. Once it gets into a nursing home, it's very, very difficult.

And so testing is part of that approach. We also have something that we think is unique and we're very proud of in Ohio, and that is, our hospitals have really stepped up and with the nursing homes. And it's a new partnership we have never had before.

But every hospital -- every nursing home has been adopted by a hospital in the state of Ohio. So, when there is a problem, they bring their infectious disease people in, they try to surge in if the nursing home needs PPE. They do with the testing.

If someone is showing the symptoms in a nursing home, they call the local health department. They bring the hospital in. Testing takes place, and really is trying to, again, do the basic stuff, find out who is positive, and segregate them, separate them, so that other people do not become positive.

So, it's a -- I think it's a real holistic approach, and it remains -- a nursing home is something we care a lot about.

Everybody has had somebody in a nursing home at one time. And you think it might be your dad, it might be your mom in there. And so it's somebody's dad or somebody's mom. And we got to do everything we can to take care of our...

BLITZER: Yes, it's so sad that the children of the people in the nursery, they can't come visit their mothers and their fathers.

DEWINE: Yes. No, that's horrible, very difficult.

BLITZER: And grandchildren can't come and visit either. That's so painful for everyone.

DEWINE: It is.

BLITZER: I told that, by the end of this week -- and correct me if I'm wrong, Governor -- some 90 percent of your state's economy will be reopened, at least in some fashion.

But the number of coronavirus cases in Ohio continues to fluctuate. You're clearly fighting two battles right now, the public health crisis, which is enormous, but also there's a huge economic crisis.

[18:15:06]

A lot of people are unemployed, and they're struggling to put food on the table right now. There are competing needs that need to be struck right now. What's the right balance?

DEWINE: Well, Wolf, one of the things we have done is, we want to make sure that, as we open businesses, that we do it the right way.

And so we have put working groups together, not only of people who are in health, but people who actually run that type business, to come up with the best practices. So we're going to open retail tomorrow. So, when these retail stores open, they have to follow the procedure.

I mean, they have to do everything that they need to do to separate people. And they have got to -- can't have too many people in a room. But you're right. It's a risk if you if you didn't open up, and it's a risk if you do open up.

And we're trying to do it in a measured pace. I continue to appeal to my fellow Ohioans, who, frankly, have done a great job through this. They have kept the distance. They have done all those things. And what I'm telling them is, we got to keep doing this, because the risk is up because we're opening up.

And so the importance now of adding the facial, adding the mask to what we have been doing -- we have been doing the social distancing. Now we all really have to put that mask on as we go out into public. And so these are things that are just very important.

BLITZER: Yes.

DEWINE: Every employee now in Ohio in these new -- businesses has to wear a mask under our protocol.

BLITZER: Which is so critical.

And, Governor, I want to thank you, because you were way ahead of the curve in Ohio and getting things done. And in the process, I think it's fair to say, you saved a lot of lives in doing so.

So, thanks very much. And thanks very much for joining us.

DEWINE: Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: We will stay in close touch with you. Appreciate it very much..

DEWINE: Thank you. Good to be with you.

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