COLUMBUS, Ohio — The state will soon release guidance for proms, which will allow the celebrations to occur this year with masks, Gov. Mike DeWine said Thursday.
“I actually have prom guidance in my outbox. I hope to get to it this afternoon,” DeWine said Wednesday, after touring the Ross County Health District vaccination clinic at Ohio University Chillicothe.
The guidance, which had not been released as of Thursday evening, will allow proms with few restrictions other than masks, he said.
During his news conference Thursday, the governor said his guidance won’t bring any suprises. The state will encourage distancing if it’s possible, but Ohio students will be able to dance with masks.
“When you can, keep the distance,” he said. “But the guidance now basically is going to say you can do about anything — wear a mask. So proms, wear a mask.”
The mask requirements for prom is subject to change if cases drop below the state’s threshold of 50 cases per 100,000 people over a two-week period, but that would require cases to drop to a third of the level they are at now by the time proms come around in May.
“If the prom was occurring today, we would say you need to wear a mask. If the graduation was occurring today, we would say wear a mask. You know, outside is better. If you can do it outside, that’s probably better than doing it inside,” DeWine said.
The governor also gave the green light Wednesday to Ohio residents who are planning May and June weddings.
“June looks awful good. I think June, you got something planned in June, unless there’s something out there that we’re not seeing. We’re going to have a ton of Ohioans vaccinated by then,” he said.
The governor said everyone will have had the opportunity to get vaccinated by June, so unless the more contagious variants flare up in a way that the state is not currently expecting, weddings should be fine. Come mid-April, no one should have any trouble getting a vaccine appointment, he said.
“Fran and I got married on June 3, a few years ago. So June is a good time to get married, but if you’re going to do that, everybody coming to your wedding, put it in the invitation, ‘Get vaccinated’ and have a little, have a little fun with it. And I think it’s going to work out fine.”
