COLUMBUS — Gov. Mike DeWine has scheduled a Wednesday night news conference to discuss the current state of the cornonavirus pandemic and the recent increases in cases and virus spread. The conference is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

DeWine canceled his scheduled briefing today a few hours before it was set to begin. His usual briefings begin at 2 p.m. An evening news conference is unusual.

A spokesman for the governor said that DeWine will deliver a speech, and that no question-and-answer session will follow at the end, as is typical in his afternoon briefings.

The governor is expected to still hold a briefing with media questions and answers on Thursday afternoon.

New COVID-19 cases reported in each of the last seven consecutive days have ranked among the state’s all-time record highest.

While the 1,142 cases reported today represented the second straight drop in the number of new cases, it still remained the 10th-highest number of new cases reported in Ohio in a day.

The state is averaging 1,260.3 new cases per day over the first three days of the week. That’s more than the 1,147.3 daily average last week, when the state set a record for most cases in a week with 8,031.

Statewide, five new COVID-19 deaths were reported Tuesday, down from the daily average of 16 during the previous 21 days. That did not yet include one reported Tuesday by the Trumbull County Combined Health District.

But hospitalizations in Ohio were up Tuesday. That number was 134 compared to the daily average of 80 for the previous 21 days.

Trumbull reported 1,090 total cases as of Tuesday, an increase of seven since Monday. Mahoning County listed 1,996 cases, an increase of 25 since Monday. Columbiana County had 1,406 cases, the same as Monday.

There was one death reported Tuesday in Trumbull County after two were reported Monday. It now has 83 COVID-19 deaths. Mahoning has 239 deaths, with none reported since Thursday. Columbiana has 60 deaths, with none reported since July 1.