COLUMBUS (WCMH) – Ohio’s chief medical officer is warning the state about rising COVID-19 hospitalizations.

Tuesday, Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff said COVID-19 hospitalizations had gone down statewide, but now, they’re beginning to rise again.

The latest data shows more than 4,400 hospitalizations, the highest they’ve been since Dec. 30.

As a result of the high hospitalization rate, Columbus hospitals had to go on a citywide emergency patient diversion Monday night.

“That means the hospitals needed to take special measures to balance care across the city,” Vanderhoff said. “As a result, all of the hospitals, police, EMS, and fire in Columbus are working together to balance care to make sure patients get to an ER and hospital that is best able to take new patients.”

Vanderhoff wants people to know mechanisms like this have been around for a long time, adding it affects how ambulances coordinate hospital runs, but not an individual’s access to emergency care.