Ohio Children’s Hospital Association, Governor DeWine ask all Ohio schools to require masks

COLUMBUS – Governor Mike DeWine again asked all Ohio schools to require face masks for staff and students at Tuesday’s Coronavirus press conference. An appeal for masks was also made by the Ohio Children’s Hospital Association on Tuesday.

“We all share the goal of keeping our kids in school. Reasonable people may disagree about a lot, but we can all agree that we must keep our children in the classroom so they don’t fall behind and so their parents can go to work and not take time off to watch their kids at home,” Governor DeWine said. “We must also keep our kids in school so we don’t exacerbate the behavioral health challenges kids face by not being in the classroom with other kids.”

Governor DeWine pointed to rising COVID-19 numbers among school-aged children. He said that there has been a 44% increase among school-aged children and only a 17% increase among adults. He also said that the 16 of the highest number of cases per day throughout the entire COVID-19 pandemic for kids aged 5 to 17 in Ohio have all been in the last 19 days.

Governor DeWine also said, “The best way to keep schools open & kids out of quarantine is for those 12+ to get vaccinated. But because those under 12 are too young to be vaccinated, we need all students who come to school to wear a mask until we get through this.”

Governor DeWine said that he is unable to require masks in schools, due to a law passed by state legislature that prevents him from issuing any statewide health orders.