COLUMBUS, Ohio — On Wednesday, Governor Mike DeWine began his press conference with some sad news.  He says a correctional officer at the Marion Correctional Institution has died of COVID-19.

According to prison personnel, it was John Dawson, he was in his 50s, and he had underlying health conditions.

There are dozens more infected at that location, which is now on complete lockdown.

At his press conference, the governor also addressed challenges with the shortage of PPE.

“Every mask is precious. Do not throw one away. We now have the ability in Ohio to use that mask up to 20 times,” said DeWine.

For those on the front lines, access to personal protective equipment is a matter of life and death.

Medical-grade masks can block out infectious particles and when worn by someone sick, can contain what gets put into the air.

But since this outbreak, there hasn’t been nearly enough to go around.

Two companies are pitching in to fill the shortage. One is Battelle, who can sterilize and recycle hundreds of thousands of masks a day. The other is Apple, who on Wednesday, announced a huge donation.

“One hundred thousand of the N95 masks, so we will be giving that out to our frontline workers. We thank Apple, we thank Tim Cook, we thank the whole Apple family. Those one hundred thousand, I can guarantee you, will be well used in the state of Ohio, and we are very very grateful,” said DeWine.

PPE is just one line of defense. Social distancing has proven to be our best strategy. Due to early intervention like school closings and barring of mass gatherings  —while the epicenter, New York, is reporting over 4,000 deaths — Ohio is just shy of 200.

“The good news is, thanks to the decisive action by the governor, Governor Mike DeWine, Ohio is in a much better place today than we thought it would be. We have not experienced the catastrophic scenario that we surely would have if those actions hadn’t taken place,” said Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted.

But the question still remains — when will life return to normal?

Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted says, not for a while.

“We cant open things up and put more people in jeopardy until we have the protective equipment that will give them a sense of comfort and a sense of protection that they really deserve as they’re out there working and trying to serve all of us,” said Husted. 

Health Director Dr. Amy Acton showed us some modeling and says the reason Ohio has been doing so well is because we have been social distancing. She says the second we take our foot off the gas we could see a huge outbreak here in the state. So she says, keep doing what you’re doing — it’s saving lives.