Ohio lawmakers say elective surgeries might be paused amid a COVID-19 outbreak taking place across the state.

According to a Tuesday CBS News report, confirmed coronavirus cases in the state are surging.

The outlet reports that the state’s seven-day rolling average of daily new cases has risen in two weeks from 4,467 new cases per day to 7,618 cases per day.

You Might Like

What are the details?

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) during a Monday briefing said that the “high volume” of the new cases is “now overwhelming the system.”

He and hospital officials are now warning that there is a distinct possibility that elective medical procedures could be postponed due to the surge.

“We are responding to the surge, but as the surge increases, we’ll need to make more decisions about how we triage and how we take care of patients appropriately,” DeWine added.

Dr. Richard Lofgren, president and CEO of the University of Cincinnati HC Health System said that there’s no use in planning for an emergency — because it’s already here.

“The growth in hospitalizations is exponential,” he said in a grave statement. “We’re not planning for the surge — the surge is here.”

CBS reports that hospitals are nearing the point where COVID-19 patients will outnumber non-COVID patients.

Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center’s Dr. Andrew Thomas told WOIO-TV that the time has come to change the way things have been done across the state as of late.

“We can’t sound the alarm bell loud enough for people in Ohio to change their behavior,” he insisted. “With Thanksgiving coming up, keep within your bubble. If you have family coming over, hopefully they’ve been quarantining for 14 days.”

DeWine also took to Twitter and shared the statement, writing, “We are responding to the surge, but as the surge increases, we’ll need to make more decisions about how we triage and how we take care of patients appropriately.”