Governor DeWine announces when all COVID-19 health orders will be lifted

Columbus, OH – After a year of Ohioans living under health orders due to COVID-19, Governor Mike DeWine announced Thursday what will have to happen for all COVID-19 health orders to be lifted.

At an evening statewide address, Governor DeWine announced that when Ohio gets down to 50 cases per 100,000 people for two weeks, all health orders will be lifted. As of Wednesday, Ohio had 179 cases per 100,000 people. This is down from February, when Ohio had 445 cases per 100,000 people; and from December, when Ohio had 731 cases per 100,000 people.

Governor DeWine said, “The end of our fight is now in view, but we must continue pressing forward in these final days. We must not relent.”

Governor DeWine mentioned that over 1.8 million Ohioans have been vaccinated; and that Ohio has over 1,200 vaccination locations. He also said that the Ohio National Guard is vaccinating people at low-income senior housing locations, churches, community health centers, and many other places.

Governor DeWine also mentioned that Ohio has made significant strides in getting back to normal. Some of the strides that were mentioned were that the curfew has been lifted; the stay-at-home order has been lifted; restaurants, bars, and gyms are open; and that nearly 95% of Ohio students have some kind of in-person learning.