Two months ago, Cleveland Plain Dealer reporter Brie Zeltner became consumed by one topic: the coronavirus crisis that would soon sweep into her state.

The veteran health-care journalist chronicled the early reports of illness in nearby states, and then the first cases transmitted within Ohio. She interviewed a local woman who had tested positive; explored the impact of the virus on maternal health; and questioned the state’s shortage of coronavirus tests and the reasons local health departments were pursuing such different strategies to thwart the disease.