Also on March 12, Ohio Department of Health director Amy Acton instituted a ban on gatherings of more than 100, with exemptions for airports, workplaces, restaurants, religious gatherings, weddings and funerals.[40] Despite having only thirteen confirmed cases at the time, Ohio officials were predicting that there were over 100,000 cases in the state.[41] Department of Health director Acton compared the small number of cases to "seeing a star and knowing that light is a moment from the deep past"[42] as she argued for Ohioans to take steps to prevent further infections that could overload the state's hospitals.[42] State Representative Emilia Sykes called Acton "the real MVP of Ohio's coronavirus response."[42]