Gov. DeWine to school districts: require masks for students and staff
The governor has yet to implement a mandate.
TOLEDO, Ohio — Governor Mike DeWine is now pleading with school districts across Ohio to require face coverings for students and staff amid the ongoing COVID-19 surge here in the state.
Since August 15th of this year, there have been 29,823 Ohio kids, ages 5 to 17, diagnosed with COVID-19. According to the governor’s office, cases among this age group increased 198% from the week of August 15th as compared to the week ending September 4th.
“Reasonable people may disagree about a lot of things during this coronavirus. But I think all of us, Democrat, Republican, liberal, conservative, I think just about everybody in Ohio, now agrees that we must do everything we can to keep our children in the classroom,” said Governor Mike DeWine, (R) Ohio.
The governor says that school districts that didn’t implement mask mandates are dealing with higher COVID-19 numbers among students, and that the numbers reflect that. 945.7 out of 100,000 students contracted the virus, compared to a 34% increase in school districts where face coverings are either mandated for all or for some.
“We are dealing with a disease that we’ve all been facing for over 18 months now and for a long time, it was really perceived as a disease that did not impact our kids in a significant way. Well, that belief has really been shattered over the last several months,” said Debbie Feldman, President and CEO of Dayton Children’s Hospitals.
As for how many school districts will comply with the governor’s plea, that remains to be seen.
