Republican Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said Sunday that while his administration failed to issue a statewide mask ordinance, he does not rule out implementing that step as coronavirus cases continue to rise in the state.
“We are going the wrong way,” Dewine said of daily Ohio virus infections during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. But DeWine denied that the recent increase in the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the state was entirely due to the lack of a state-wide mask mandate.
“I don’t think anyone in Ohio who has seen what I’ve done in the last four months doubts that, you know, I will do whatever it takes to protect the people of Ohio,” DeWine told NBC’s Chuck Todd, adding that he “certainly wouldn’t rule out going statewide. We’re certainly seeing that.”
Earlier this month, Ohio reported more than 1,000 cases daily, though that has decreased in recent days, with only 524 cases reported on Friday. More than 9,500 people have been hospitalized in Ohio since the pandemic hit the state, and at least 3,174 residents have died from the virus.
“We are very, very concerned,” DeWine said, but added that protecting the public is not just about issuing masking mandates. “It’s not just about ordering. Ordering is important. But it’s also about making people understand, ‘Hey, this is very, very serious,'” he said.
“We are at a crucial stage. We are at the point where we could become Florida,” DeWine said. Last Sunday, Florida reported more than 15,000 cases of Covid-19, the highest daily total recorded in any US state since the pandemic began.
Florida has more than 350,000 cases in total, according to the state department of health. Those levels are higher than several major countries with much larger populations, such as Italy and Spain. Overall, the United States has more than 3.7 million confirmed cases, and at least 140,294 people have died, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Instead of issuing a state-wide mask mandate, DeWine and the Ohio Department of Health issued an order earlier this month requiring all counties designated as Level 3 or Level 4 public health emergencies regarding the level and spread of Covid-19 cases require facial coatings. About 60% of the state is currently under a mask ordinance, as the state’s total number of cases exceeded 74,900 as of Sunday.
Ohio, which had a gross domestic product of $ 698 billion in 2019 and ranks in the top 10 of CNBC’s most recent annual United States of America study, instituted a state-run shelter order that closed non-core businesses during almost six weeks. The state then began a gradual reopening plan on May 1, allowing health centers to resume the provision of medical services that did not require overnight stays.
Manufacturing, retail, food and personal services, such as salons, were gradually opened throughout May, with capacity limitations and guidelines issued around safety and social distancing. Although most Ohio businesses have reopened, the state has yet to allow K-12 schools to resume and has also kept entertainment venues, stadiums and sports areas, and certain recreational sports closed for now.
“When we reopened, we were one of the first states to implement a very sophisticated policy on how to reopen,” said DeWine. But Ohio’s response to the pandemic has not been without controversy. Protesters met several times at the state house in Columbus to oppose refuge orders at the Ohio scene. On Saturday, hundreds of people gathered to protest Ohio’s current mask-level mandates, saying the requirements are overreaching by the government.
To help bring the importance of wearing a mask home, the DeWine administration will publish an announcement Tuesday that Ohio residents wear masks whenever possible. The message, DeWine said, is that you wear the mask for other people. Getting people to buy and understand why wearing a mask is important is key, the governor added.
“Make a 20 year old understand that he or she may feel invulnerable, that nothing will happen to them, but that they may have it, they may not know they have it. They can go home and see their grandmother. She can get it can end up dying, “says DeWine. “That is the message we are trying to get across the state of Ohio.”
DeWine also said states need additional funds to help with the public health crisis, particularly money for tests. The Ohio governor’s comments come as the White House tries to block funds for testing and tracing contacts in negotiations over the latest aid bill in Congress. The Republican Senate, in a rare break with the administration, is lobbying against the White House and trying to keep funds for testing on the bill.
“We are going to continue to need money for testing,” DeWine said, adding that while Ohio has doubled testing in the past five weeks, the state frankly needs to “double” that rate.
“We can only do that with money from the federal government,” he said. “And it has to be for a long period of time, we are not going to be out of this in a month, or two months, or three months.”
Although the White House is trying to block more money for testing, DeWine said he has confidence in the Trump administration, noting the call that governors have with Vice President Mike Pence every week.
“Every time I’ve asked, ‘Look, we need something. We have to try to get more reagents. We need the FDA to move,’ every time I’ve asked the president or asked the vice president, it’s happened.”
“What this administration has been able to provide us and that Congress has provided us, and we thank both of them, is the money,” says DeWine.
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