COLUMBUS, Ohio — Governor Mike DeWine held a rescheduled news conference Wednesday afternoon to address the ongoing pandemic, after postponing the usual Tuesday briefing because of news coming out about House Speaker Larry Householder.
Wednesday, though, he only briefly addressed the scandal, saying the speaker has the presumption of innocence, but turned his attention back to COVID-19 and announced a new statewide mask mandate.
Governor DeWine reported the second highest number of cases, 1,527 cases overnight. He also said hospitalizations are steadily increasing, 128 overnight. As a result, he has now put the entire state of Ohio under a mask order.
“The evidence is just abundantly clear. As I said, the jury’s back. The verdict’s back. Masks work,” said DeWine.
And because they work, DeWine says they shall be worn. Starting 6 o’clock Thursday night, residents in every county in Ohio are required to wear them unless you have a disability, are exercising or are eating and drinking, to name a few. That, and social distancing, DeWine says, should do the trick.
“Dr. (Amy) Acton used to talk about the Swiss cheese. A couple of those layers on there makes a huge, huge difference,” DeWine said.
DeWine believes hindsight is 2020 and it is too soon to know whether the statewide mask order came too late. He says he made the call because as Governor he needs to lead and move the state forward.
“The rate of new cases in these red counties has slowed. We cannot yet say we’re at a plateau,” saidDeWine.
To aid in that effort, DeWine announced a travel advisory for Ohioans traveling to and from nine states and the island of Puerto Rico. He says if you go there or come back, you must self-quarantine for 14 days.
“Your risk is based upon what you are doing in these other states,” DeWine added.
Additionally, the governor addressed upcoming county fairs, saying they must adhere to state health department guidelines, noting that at a recent fair there were 19 positive cases reported.
“We know all of these things are sacrifices, but we hope that these are short-term sacrifices for something that we all want to see and that is to get this virus under control and be able to do more things as we move into the fall,” emphasized DeWine.
